Legacy of Liam and Emily: Prologue
by Logan-fireofall
Summary: The beggining of the 2nd generation stories for Liam and Emily
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, or Lord of the Rings.**

* * *

**Aqua's PoV**

**The World That Never Was**

**The Dark City**

"Logan, how are we going to get out of this?!" I ask my husband, who has red and blue striped hair, "There are too many heartless here, and we need to protect Liam and Emily," I say.

"I have an Idea but you three need to leave now!" He shouts striking down another Neoshadow.

"I'm not leaving you behind!" I shout as a loud roar emits from the field. We both see a tall beast with spikes on his back and two horns on his face and four wings standing up over the neoshadows.

"Go! I am going to overload the stigma. it should buy you three enough time to get out!"

"No! Logan you will die if you do that!" I shout again and the beast gets closer to us.

"I know. But it is the only way. Take Liam and Emily and go!"

"There has to be another way!" I plead as we both take out our Neoshadows at the same time.

"We don't have time! Just go!" He shouts then I hear a woman's voice in my head.

"_Save your legacy. They must survive if the future is to be peaceful,_" The voice tells me.

"Aqua! Go now!"

I turn and see the giant Neoshadow is almost at us and I turn my keyblade into the glider and grab Liam and Emily, who are somehow still asleep, and fly off. I see a world nearby and go there so that Emily and Liam aren't overexposed to the darkness. After I land near a waterfall I put my kids down on the ground and dispel my keyblade. I then notice Emily start to wake up.

"Mommy lere's Daddy?" She asks then I hear an explosion from behind us and I can feel the heat of The Stigma's overload.

"Don't worry. Daddy's gonna be fine," I say when I feel a tremor and I look up into the sky. I see a light as big as the sun appear, the heat so strong it singes the tops of the trees then… it gradually disappears. I'm on the brink of tears when Emily speaks again.

"lere are le?" Emily asks me.

"I don't know," I say, "but I think we should be safe for a while."

"Why do you say that? Eregion can be a dangerous place," I hear a voice behind me say. I turn and see an arrowhead right in front of my face in a bow held by a blond-haired man with pointed ears wearing green, "Especially for intruders."

"_**Legolas, hold your wrath,**_" Another voice says in a language I do not recognize, "_**I don't think a woman and her two children appearing here in Rivendell is cause enough for us to attack them.**_"

"_**Yes lord Elrond**_," The first one says as he puts the arrow back in his quiver. He then turns to me, "Be happy I spared you," he then walks farther down the path.

"Sorry he has always been very suspicious of men," The second says as he jumps down towards us. He has pointed ears as well. He is wearing a brown robe with white pants and shirt underneath.

"I am a woman not a man!" I exclaim.

"I meant no offense. I was using the term for the race not the gender," He says.

"Really?" I say skeptically.

"Yes madame. Now why are you three wandering in Eregion alone?" He asks me.

"Eregion? What is that?" I ask.

"You have been wandering for a while haven't you? You haven't been anywhere near your home for a few years I would assume."

"I have been away from home for a few months and I don't know anything about this place."

"Those who don't know won't survive. I advise you take your children and go back to wherever you came," He says.

"That is my plan but we are out of supplies," I say, and it isn't completely false. I don't have keyblade armor for the kids.

As the visitor is about to speak again, a sudden howling rings throughout the sky making him arm himself with his bow.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Wargs," I hear a voice from above me. I look up and see the one who threatened me earlier standing on a ledge, "This was the main danger I was warning you about."

"I thought you were threatening me," I say.

"Yes, I was. I don't trust you," He replies as he pulls out his bow, "The wargs are close."

"How many Legolas?" The other man asks

"One rider, five wargs, and about ten orcs. They must be looking for something," The man who must be named Legolas, says.

"I think I know what it is," The other says as he turns to me.

"Why would they be after us?" I ask.

"They don't need a reason. They go after the weak and slaughter them," Legolas explains.

"I will not let them take my kids," I say as I summon my keyblade, "I'll fight them alone if I have to."

"You won't survive, it's better to fight them together than alone. Besides its better for you to take your children somewhere safe away from the fight. I suspect thats why you came here in the first place, right?" The man says.

"Yes but I don't know where it is safe here," I say.

_"_**_Legolas. Take them to_ _Rivendell_**," The man says to Legolas, who jumps down to us and picks up Liam and Emily.

"Where are you taking them?!" I ask shocked.

"To safety," Legolas says and runs off the same way he left earlier and I run after him.

"You're not taking my children!"

"_**Dammit, Woman**_! Can't you see that I am getting them to safety?!"

"Just tell me how to get there and I will take them there," I say.

"Just follow the path, but you won't be able to get in without one of us," He says handing me my kids, "And if you're taking them then I am going back to help Elrond."

"I'll get in,"

"Good luck with that," He says then he rushes back to the fight. I start down the path and reach a bridge and on the other side is a gate.

"Can you let me in?!" I shout up to the man on top of the wall.

"No, Men must be accompanied by an elf to be allowed entry."

"Please. My children and I need supplies!"

"The answer is no! Now leave or you'll force us to use unnecessary measures," It shouts back as I hear something growl behind me. I turn around quickly and see a wolf-like creature except its pure black, has yellow eyes and the tips of its fur are dyed a hot pink. I put my kids on a ledge on the wall then summon my keyblade and charge at the creature.

It dodges most of my attacks until it jumps at me and I stabbed it in its chest. I expected it to fall down but instead it stands on its hind legs and bites my shoulder. I gasp at the pain and try to pull away but its jaws has a tight grip. I pull my keyblade out of the creature and then try to open a portal beneath Liam and Emily but my power has weakened and I feel the blackness starting to seep in my eyes. I could only watch as the magic falls through before I black out.

* * *

**Hope's PoV**

**Etra**

**Hope's House**

I am finally able to relax for the first time this year… for about five seconds then Logan's son literally falls into my lap and… he is asleep. I wake him up and he starts looking around confused then starts asking questions rapidly, "Where am I? Where is Mommy? Where is Daddy? Where is Emily?"

I don't know what to do in this situation, so I just went with the one thing that came to mind,"I don't know where they are but you are on Etra now. You don't need to be scared. I am sure they will be here soon," I tell him then come up with an idea, "I'll even try to contact you dad right now."

He brightens up when I say this and I walk over to the computer. I try to contact Logan but the computer isn't able to find him. I try contacting Aqua and it finds her but she doesn't answer. I need some help but who can I tell that Logan's son literally fell in my lap? I call Light and fortunately she does pick up. I say to her, "Hey, we have a little bit of a problem."

"Hope," she growls out my name, "I'm busy right now so you better make it quick," She says.

"Logan's son just got teleported into my house and Logan and Aqua are nowhere to be found," I explain.

"What?" I hear some voices on the other side then a little scuffling when she speaks again, "Alright, exactly how did Logan's son end up in your house?"

"He literally fell from above me. I am pretty sure a portal was used," I explain to her

"What about Logan?"

"His comm device isn't responding to my calls, Aqua's is responding but she isn't answering."

I hear a sigh then she says, "Look, I'm at work right now so until I get off you have to watch him for now."

"Alright," I say

"And Hope. Don't lose your mind."

"I'll try not to," I say and disconnect the communication.

* * *

**Elrond's PoV**

**Arda**

**Eregion**

After the enemy reaches us they seem to double in number. I also seem to notice how these Wargs seem different from the ones we faced before. Instead of having different pelts they all share the pitch black skin with eyes of gold.

"_**These ones are more powerful than before**_," Legolas says to me as he fires two arrows and hits the rider in his eyes taking him out.

"_**Indeed**_," I say as I slice off another rider and stab the warg. I expect it to die but instead it stands up and pulls the arrow out with its paws, "_**What in god's name is this?**_"

"**_I do not know but we can't let them reach Rivendell_**," Legolas says as he fires arrows rapidly at one of the wargs. They all hit but the warg just rips them out unphased, "_**Is there anything that can harm these beasts?**_"

As I'm about to say something, I get tackled to the ground and I see one of the wargs above. It bares its yellow teeth and black drool oozes from in between. I hear Legolas shout followed by numerous growls as the beast above me prepares to strike.

I wait for my fate when a piercing howl rings through the field. The warg above me backs off along with the rest and disappears into the dark forest, leaving some of the remaining riders behind. We let the riders leave and start back towards Rivendell.

"_**What do you think is the reason the wargs stopped in the middle of the fight?**_" Legolas asks.

"_**For once, I don't know. Those wargs were different from the ones we faced before. In fact, they might not even be wargs at all… they… they might be demons.**_"

"_**Demons? Since when has the horde of Sauron had demons?**_" Legolas ask me.

"_**I don't know. Right now there's so many questions running in my mind right now I can't even breathe. I only pray that whatever brought them, no one tries to find them**_," I respond when I hear a faint wailing.

"_**What is that noise?**_" Legolas asks.

"_**Its sounds like a… like a… a child?**_" I say as the wailing grows louder and I run to the source. I finally find the source near the gates and I see the child that the woman was with. I expect the woman to be near but she isn't and didn't she have another with her? What happened to that child?

"Child, are you alright?" I say but she cries more, "_**Enough**_! Are you hurt?!"

"Mommy las hurt. She las attacked by a lowf monster," She says through her sobs.

"Wargs. I didn't expect they would get so close to gates that quick," I say as I pick her up in my arms, "Don't worry child you're safe."

"Lere is Wiam? Lere is Mommy?!" Her cries grow louder.

"Save your tears! I know you're mother isn't here and I know you're afraid but crying about it will do nothing to help her," I say and she starts to calm down a little, "Legolas! Order the gates."

"_**Open the gates**_!" He shouts and the gates start to open.

"lat is that?" The little girl says.

"This… is Rivendell."

* * *

**Aqua's PoV**

**Arda**

**Cirith Ungol**

I wake up, my head feels like a ton of bricks, and I realize I am chained to a wall. I try to summon my keyblade to release myself but it doesn't appear. I look at my right arm and see that it is covered in pure darkness making my stomach lurch, 'What was that creature that attacked me, and how did it cause this?' I think when I hear a growl from in front of me. Although I can barely see due to the lack of light, I still manage to see a standing figure with what appears to be wings and glowing yellow eyes.

The beast comes closer to me, its breath smells of wet dog and a corpse almost causing me to throw up. It grabs my face, its claws digging in to my cheeks as it forces my head up to its head. I struggle to get out of its grasp but it punches me in my stomach, forcing the air out of me and making it easier for me to comply with its actions. My eyes blur with tears as I look into the soulless yellow of its eyes. As I stare I start to become dizzy and my head starts pounding again. I only have a moment as the darkness creeps up again and I faint.

I'm not new to the darkness. I risked my life to save a friend from it and my late husband escaped from it. Even I have walked down the dark path until I felt nothing in my depleting heart. Logan… Oh Logan. Why did you have to leave me… Why did you have to die? We could've both escaped together… you'd still be here alive… with me, to hold me… to love me. To fight together with me against the darkness. I… I love you… I wish I could've told you that before you did what you did… I wish you could be there with Liam and Emily.

I hope the portal worked. So they didn't have to suffer like I'm about to. I'm sorry… mommy isn't gonna be back this time.

The sting of something cold hits my face jolts me from my slumber. I look and see that I'm on a rough, black cobblestone floor. I get to my knees when I'm forced back on my stomach. I manage to look around and see the whole room surrounded by… creatures… of every kind standing on rows and rows of floors with no safety whatsoever. They jump and chant in some language as they look down at me. I hear another growl from behind when a black foot steps near my head.

I look up and see thats its the same beast from before except now I can see what it truly looks like. Its whole skin is black and has two horns on its temple with large spikes on its back and its wings outstretched. The one thing I do recognize is the violet outline of a heart on his chest. 'Heartless.'

It grabs my hair and pulls me forward before dropping me on the ground. The chanting continues then it goes dead silent. My heart is racing as I prepare to summon my keyblade and prepare for a fight… or a massacre.

Strangely, I hear a voice laugh. Not just a regular laugh but a silent yet devilish laugh. I hear a footstep and it continues until it stops near me. I swallow spit as I prepare to get up and strike when it finally speaks.

"**Well, well, well. Look who it is… an old face but a dove with the same wings.**"

My blood freezes as I hear the voice. Praying that it isn't who I think it is, I look up and confirm my fears, those devious eyes peering right into my soul.

"Kairu."

* * *

**A/N: The only two tolkien languages used so far are Sindarin, represented by bold italicised text, and Black Speech, represented by bold text. When I finish filling the gaps I will post it on my blog and put a tolkien version of the chapters on Ao3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts or Lord of the Rings.**

* * *

**Aqua's PoV**

**Arda**

**Cirith Ungol**

"Kairu. Didn't expect to see you again so soon," I say, "So you're the one who sent that creature after me and my kids."

Kairu laughs. He wears a black coat with decals engraved in the leather with a hood. He kneels down to me and grabs my chin before says, "Why I did no such thing. That was just a mere pack looking for a decent meal… and that meal just so happened to be you… my little dove."

"What did you do to my arm?" I ask, "Or are you going to claim innocence on that too?"

He growls then slaps me dead on the face, "You might not wanna choose your words so lightly. One word and I can have them [censored] you till you bleed from the inside. Besides, this injury is none of my doing. It appears you have some darkness within you and it reacted to the great surge of power that was there."

"I am a wielder of a keyblade of light. I don't have darkness in my heart."

"Or maybe… it was something else, that had darkness inside you. Care to think about that?" I don't respond but I know he is talking about the time I was in the Realm of Darkness, "Are you that stupid? Its your kin you dumb wit."

"I know there is some darkness in my kids. I don't see how that could cause this."

"You know but you don't understand. How the darkness works, how it grows from a tiny speck to a giant flame, or in a more personal case to you, a giant flaming world. You cannot predict it… you cannot see it… and you can't ignore it. It'll claw at you, rip apart your heart until it takes complete control of you. That darkness… is inside of you. Waiting for its moment to take control and just when you finally realize the danger. Its too late… you're already one of us… the children of the great darkness. Join me… sister."

"I will never work for the darkness!" I shout but my arm seems to twitch when I say this.

"You won't have a choice in the matter. Your darkness is greater than your supposed light. Eventually the two will clash and your body will suffer in the worst way possible. Join me, join us. Welcome the darkness, don't fight it."

"You're wrong. Even if I do fall here the light will defeat the darkness."

"So that is your final choice then," he says.

"Yes I won't gi…" I start then my arm feel like it bursts into flames. The feeling spread rapidly till all that is left untouched is my head and heart.

"I see the process is starting. Such a shame really, you would've been great beside. After all, you hate being alone don't you?" He says and my heart stops when he says this, "Oh well looks like you'll have to deal with that on your own. Take her away."

"Wait!" I shout, "I'll… I'll join you just… just make it stop."

I hate myself for this moment. Being forced to join the side in which I opposed my entire life… what a failure I am. I feel Kairu hold me up by my shoulders as he bites the spot where I was bitten before. I gasp from it and I can't stop myself from clinging to him. His body is cold yet smooth to the touch, god why am I thinking about this.

The pain intensifies making me cling harder before it starts to gradually fade away and I sigh in relief. He lets go and I see on his lip… black blood?! I look to my shoulder and see that the darkness is gone but on the spot where I was bitten is an outline star with an eye in the middle.

"I feel like I have betrayed all of my friends and family," I say to myself.

"No you haven't. You've disgraced them, all for your own safety. You truly are dark Aqua… I chose good for picking you as my mate," He says and I'm shocked by what I just heard.

"What?! What makes you think that I would ever be near you… wait, you sent those neoshadows didn't you?!"

"Once again, accusing me of something I had no hand in. Typical Aqua. No, I did not summon those heartless nor do I ever remember doing such a thing. It was just fate's cruel plan to eliminate the loose ends," he explains.

"It seems really convenient for you!" I shout.

"Because I have a role in this game. You and the rest of them were just pawns. The lowly pawns who laid out the battlefield for the real pieces. I'm one of them. No matter how cruel, how despicable, how evil I am… I'm important to fate's grand design. You're just lucky that I let you live."

"I want to know what makes you think I would even want to marry you?"

"Oh you don't have to wed me. You're just gonna be there to satisfy my urges. If not, well I think my friends well handle you with the best care," he says and they start to chant again.

"And what about if Rikimaru finds out about all of this? Do you really think he would ever let you out again?"

He laughs again, silencing the chants, "King wouldn't care. In fact he wouldn't even know who you are. As of right now he's sleeping soundly in his bed after eating a nice dinner with his mom and pop. Now tell me, how alone are you truly are at this moment? I want to hear it, hell I want you to scream it! Tell me… how does it feel to be alone?!" The chanting comes back as they agree with what he's saying of course they would agree with him he's a monster like them. No matter how hard they chant I won't say it, I'll never say it.

"I won't. I won't say it," I say looking at him and the chanting stops. I look at his pale face when he smiles deviously and walks to me again.

"You don't have to say it but… we all see it, we all know the real truth," he says against my ear and I feel something slick and cold touch my ear before it gets sucked on, "and it's eating you from the inside. I can't wait to see that… **my dear** Aqua," The way he says my name just makes my skin crawl. He gets up away from me and stands in the middle of the room, "**Brothers! Rejoice… The time for our ascension is nearly upon us! And with my dear sister here by our side. There will be nothing and I mean nothing that will stop us. This is our reign… this is our redemption!**"

The chanting comes back even more fierce as they scream and pound the walls. Kairu turns to me, his eyes gleaming with pride as he looks directly at me. This will go down as the worst moment in my entire life, me… a keyblade master forced to her knees by a darkness of her very own. Even so I won't back down, I won't give in. I'll keep fighting until I can find a way to end this nightmare and in the back of mind, I just hope that Liam and Emily made it somewhere safe… away from here.

* * *

**Liam's PoV**

**Etra**

**Hope's House**

I am so bored. My father's friend has been making me watch educational television. I hate this, "When do I get to watch cartoons?" I ask.

"What do you mean? This is much better than cartoons. I would have loved to be able to watch this kind of television when I was your age," He says.

"You're not fat much older fan me!" I shout.

"I'm, over a thousand years old," He says and my eyes go wide.

"Wow… What did Dinosaurs look like?"

"Really? You realize that I wasn't on Etra until about a year ago right? And even then it has been billions of years since there were dinosaurs on any world," He says and I start pouting.

"Okay. Ooh what about fe cavemen?"

"There is one world they still exist on…" He is about to say when I hear the door knock. He walks over to it and open the door revealing one person on the other side. She has pink hair and wearing some kind of purple suit.

"Sorry I'm late. I was stuck in a meeting," the woman says then walks inside then comes to me, "Liam. Hey, do you remember me?"

"Funder!" I shout running up to her.

"No. Its Lightning silly," she smiles and says as she picks me up.

"At least he got the right type of weather," The man says, "He hasn't said my name yet."

"Oh I _hope_ he does," she says and the man rolls his eyes.

"Very funny light," He says with a weird tone in his voice.

"I try. Now Liam. Can you tell us where you're papa is?"

"I don't know. Not even Daddy knows," I say.

"What do you mean by that?" thunder asks.

"Daddy doesn't know where Papa is," I say.

"Wait… is papa your grandfather?" she asks and I nod, "Oh. Well do you at least know where your mother is?"

"No I don't," I say.

"I successfully located her actually but she didn't pick up no matter how many time I called," The man says.

"I guess Logan is the same," thunder says.

"No. It was as if his comm device didn't exist. I couldn't find his location."

"What?" this time Thunder goes right up to the man, "Don't mess with me hope, he has to be out there. Somewhere… alive. There's no way that he could be… you know."

"I can't find him. I did find a large source of heat where The World That Never Was was though. I think he might have overloaded."

"Overloaded? So you mean that…"

"Tech told me about the stigma's dangers. He may have basically gone supernova. I'm sorry Light but… I think he's gone."

"Gone where?" I say to get their attention.

"Umm… To… Well you see…" The man is about to say when thunder picks me up.

"Hope. Don't worry, I'll take care of him from now on," She says.

"Where did Daddy go?" I ask again.

"I'll tell you later Liam. Have a nice day Hope," Thunder says as she walks to the door with me in hand.

* * *

**Emily's PoV**

**Arda**

**Rivendell**

"This pwace is so pretty," I say as I am carried into the place the man carrying me called Rivendell.

The man smiles and says, "Yes, it is. As it has for many years."

"Reawy?" I ask amazed.

"Yes, and it will remain like this for years to come," The man says.

"But… lat about mommy?"

"Don't worry little one, I promise you that one day we will find your mother," he says and we all walk through more woods until we reach a building. The man that was beside him went off somewhere else and the man took me into a place without a roof with multiple men standing in the center, some were walking back and forth for some strange reason. They stop when the man walks in.

One of them points to me and says something the same way the man did before, "_**Lord Elrond, who is this child?**_"

The man doesn't say anything until he looks at me, "_**She's a stray. I found her while out on patrol near the gate in which we also encountered some wargs**_."

"_**I wonder where she came from. She is obviously a child of man**_," The man who pointed at me says.

"_**She was alone when I found her, so I believe that her parents are either dead or they abandoned her.**_"

"_**That is sad. I hope they will appear soon**_," A man who looks just like the one who pointed says.

"_**I hope so and until then the child should be kept safe**_," The pointer says.

"_**Alright then… who's gonna watch her**_," he says and they all say nothing and some look away, "_**Are you all kidding me right now? None of you are honorable enough to watch a little girl?**_"

"_**No my lord its not that. Its just… I have a lot to do at the moment, not to mention we have to deal with Sauron's forces. Especially if you encountered the wargs so close to the gate.**_"

"_**And that explosion in the sky requires that we return to Lothlorien**_," A woman in white says.

"_**Are you suggesting that I leave the child alone, to suffer alone?**_"

"_**You could do the same thing you did with Estel, or is his name Strider, Thorongil, or Aragorn now?**_" One of the two people who looks the same says while smiling and laughing.

"_**Its Estel I presume but it was different circumstance for him. We're talking about a normal child here, not the heir of Isildur.**_"

"_**Sorry to speak out of term my lord**_," The woman in white says, "_**but why don't you take care of her instead? Since you seem so concerned about her well being.**_"

"_**Galadriel, your logic is true**_," The second man says in a scary-ish voice

"_**Me? I… I can't. I have a whole race to account for not to mention that we are at war with the dark one. How could I fit a infant into all of that?**_"

"_**How you did it seventy years ago when you took 'Estel' in**_," The man who laughed earlier says.

"_**Hush you**_," He shouts and the two men laugh.

"_**Father, would you mind if I took care of her?**_" Another woman says as she walks in. I wish I could understand what they were saying.

"_**Are you sure about this Arwen? If you are, let it be known that you are now responsible for her**_," Then man who was carrying me says.

"_**I am sure father. I will take full responsibility for her,**_" The second woman says.

"_**At least until the parents are found. Right sister?**_" One of the two look a-likes says

"_**Of course Elladan. I was implying that**_," The woman says.

"What about you," the man says to me, "do you want to go with her?"

"Lo?" I ask.

"Me," The second woman replies.

"I lant Mommy," I say and the man who brought me here nods.

"I understand you want your mom but we don't know where she is," he says.

"If you will allow me to, I will take care of you until we find her," The woman says.

"Awright…" I say sadly. The woman picks me up.

"Don't worry," She says to me, "I trusted my father many times in life, I know I can trust him with finding your mother."

"Promise?" I ask her.

"Promise. Now come, we need to get you some clothing that is more suitable for you," she says and walks out of the room with me. I don't know who this woman is or why she agreed to watch over me but she says I can trust the other man to find mommy. I hope he finds her soon, I miss her… and Daddy.

* * *

**Liam's PoV**

**Etra**

**Lightning and Slip's House**

Thunder had taken into what Dad told me was a 'car'. I don't remember what happened after because I fell asleep but I did feel the car stop which made me wake up again. I rubbed my eyes as Thunder got me out and took me to a very small house with a bunch of trees around it and… is that the ocean?!

"Where are we?" I ask her.

"My home," she says and opens the door and a voice comes from inside.

"Mommy!" I feel her being pushed back a little. I look down and see the top of what appears to be blue chrome hair. She looks up at Thunder and I can see that it's a girl.

"Hi honey. Where's your father?" Thunder smiles and asks.

"He went to the store to get dinner, he said he'll get cookies and ice cream!" She says.

"Ice cream?!" I ask.

"Yeah! My papa's the best!" She says. My smile fades because the mention of her father reminded me that my own is missing, "What's wrong? Your dad doesn't give you ice cream and cookies?"

"Jade, stop," Thunder finally says, "You wanna show Liam the house?"

"Okay!" She nods and Thunder puts me down and walks away, "Come on, I'll show you my room first," She reaches for my hand but I pull back, "What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I just miss my daddy," I say.

"Well my mommy says that she misses her dad all the time. Even papa does with his too," she explains. I smile a little and take her hand, "Now, charge!"

"To where?"

"My room silly. Where else would we go?"

"Okay," I say and we run through house until we end up in her room. It's not big but it's not small either. Her entire room is blue except for the desks and there's a huge window with the sea behind it, "Wow… your room is awesome."

"Thanks. Papa painted it, he told me that he was the one who knew blue was gonna be my favorite color."

"Like my hair," I say.

"That means we're related! I always wanted a little brother," she says, takes my arms and shakes me.

"Fat means I have two sisters!"

"Yeah! Papa is gonna be so happy when he hears this," she says when a weird noise emits from outside. She runs out of the room and shouts, "Papa's back!"

Whoever this papa is, he sounds cool but he's not my dad. Not even close, either way I walk out of the room and head after Jade to meet her daddy.

* * *

**Slip's PoV**

I turned off my bike as I parked in the driveway. The bags had nearly flown off as I traveled back to the house, if that hadn't broken my spirit then seeing Claire's car in the driveway certainly did. She isn't gonna be happy that I left a five year old in the house alone. Well part of it is my fault because I find driving a car very uncomfortable. I don't know why its like that but I don't feel like changing it either.

I grab the bags and head towards the door to my home. Even though it isn't the same one had in Esper nor will it be, it still feels the same… except now I have a an extra member to share it with. As I open the door-with my shoulder since my hands are full-I hear a small yet hyper voice ring off the walls.

"Papa!" My daughter, Jade, comes running to me as I drop the bags on the counter and swoop her in my arms.

"Hey! How's my baby girl doing?" I say and she giggles.

"Good. Mommy came home and I have a little brother now!" She says and I feel like a stone dropped in my stomach.

"A… A little brother?" I say, praying to god that I was just imagining things and she just kidding that she has a little brother. Does she? Did Claire get pregnant again? Oh god I knew I should've used it. Why me? Why is it always me?

"Yeah. He even has blue hair, just like my room. Would you like to see him?"

"Yeah… sure," I say and let her down so she can get her 'little brother'. She comes back after a few minutes and brings back… Liam?

"Papa, meet my little brother, Liam. Say hi to papa, Liam," She says and the boy is hesitant to talk until Jade urges him on.

"Hello, Shadowman," He says to me and I realize that he must remember me from when we were on Logan's little show last year.

"Its Tristan, well for your case Mr. Dramuid. So why are you here again Liam?" I ask the kid.

"I was alone at Hope's and he couldn't find mommy and daddy…" He tells me and I curse under my breath. I knew it was convenient that I felt a burning sensation on my neck. I had debunked it as my body just acting up… but now I know it wasn't. Logan is dead… and I wasn't there to help him.

"Jade, where's mommy?"

"She went in her room," She points to the hall leading to the master bedroom.

Great, "Jade take Liam outside okay?"

"Why? Is there something wrong with mommy?"

'Yeah her close friend just died,' I think to myself. Good thing I didn't say that out loud.

"No. I just need to talk to her for a couple seconds," I explain to her.

"She isn't crying right? Didn't you tell me that you promised to never make her cry?" she says and I laugh to myself. That girl has a memory like a bookkeeper.

"Yes I did… and I also promised ice cream and cookies right?" I say and she nods, "Well then you go ahead and hang out with Liam and after I'm done I'll go ahead and treat us all."

"Okay! Come on, Liam," Jade takes his hand and drags him into her room and the door shuts. I sigh before walking to the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I can feel the depression emitting from the room, god I knew that Logan and Claire were close but I never thought that it was that bad. I take a deep breath and open the door, revealing Claire on the bed, lying her side. Her back is to me and she is in her usual business get up.

I laid on the bed next to her but I don't touch her. We both say nothing. Logan was a true friend, although he would act out sometimes, everybody loved him the same… especially his wife and kids. I decide to finally speak.

"Claire… are you okay?"

"Do you remember in Esper when I was about to get jumped by that gang?" she says out of nowhere.

I smile and say, "How could I forget. That was the first time we ever fought together, but how is that related?"

"It was Logan who told me to get out more," she says, " He said if I was gonna sit around and do nothing then I wasn't really living. I was just waiting for my turn to die… I laughed about it until I finally left and… I met you. If it wasn't for him… then I… then I wouldn't have the family I love so much," Her voice is starting to crack and I take this chance to turn her around and put her in my arms.

She cries on my chest, damping my white shirt in the process. I let her cry out for her fallen friend, we both known the pain of losing someone you love, well she knew it the most. I had no one in the beginning, all I knew was darkness. I won't let that get into Claire's mind, not even for a second.

"Claire… its okay," I say to reassure her.

"I just feel like I could've done something," she muffles through my soaked shirt.

"Me too Claire… me too," I pull her closer and start to her rub her back.

"Everyone close to me is starting to die… leaving me to be alone in this world."

"I'm not. Neither is Jade. We're still here," I say and she lifts her head from my shirt. Her eyes and face red with strands of hair stuck to her face.

"I want you all to be here. I know it sounds selfish but I just don't want anyone I love to die," she says.

"I understand but no one can live forever. We all have to pass on someday."

"I know but it hurts so much."

"Well thats what I'm here for. To comfort you in your pain, to help you get through times just like these and to keep you happy. In sickness and in health, until death does us part," I see more tears starting to emerge but I wipe them away, "Don't cry. Remember our promise?"

"How could I forget…you told me over ten times," she says and I chuckle in response.

"Only to remind myself. I would do anything to make my wife happy," I say as I pull her closer to me and she reacts with a blush. Its amazing how I can still make my wife blush. Yep I still got it. I smirk at her innocence and lean in for a short, lingering kiss.

I pull back but her grip on my shirt tightens and she brings me back for an intense kiss. I couldn't help but kiss her back, one of my hands now moving to the back of her head. Eventually I have to breathe and I pull out of the kiss, much to her disapproval.

I smile knowing I have her hooked as she tries to pull off my shirt. I help her then toss it away in the room then start to kiss and lick down her neck. Smirking as I get a moan to emit from her and I shift my body so I'm on top.

I did say anything didn't I?

* * *

**Akio's Pov**

**Akio and Jihl's House**

Hope has called me to go to his house. He says he has something very important to tell me. I start to walk to the door and my daughter, Valarie is standing there blocking the way, "Dad, Where are you going? I thought you were going to be training me this afternoon," She says.

"I know, Valarie, I did promise to help you learn more about the power you get from the brand but Hope called and said that there was something important he needed to tell me. He sounded confused which probably means something bad has happened," I say to her.

"Then I'll go with you," She says.

I hear footsteps behind me and turn to my wife who says, "No you won't. I don't want either of you two leaving after that solar flare earlier."

"Did you say 'solar flare?'" I ask in alarm.

"Yes there was a solar flare a few hours ago. Neither of you…" She starts as I rush out the door.

"That wasn't a Solar Flare," I say on my way out realizing what happened.

"What do you mean?!" My wife asks.

"Logan must have overloaded. I have to make sure Aqua and his kids are ok," I get in the car and start the engine.

"Then we're both coming with you, right mom?" My daughter asks.

"No you're staying here Valarie," Jihl says, "And don't get any ideas about taking my car, I am taking my keys with me."

"I'll just hotwire it you know!"

"Good luck making it move with no gas!" My wife shouts as my daughter growls and I chuckle.

"Its going to take more than quick hands to get one over on us!" I shout to her as my wife gets in the car and I take it out of park then start to drive to Hope's.

After about a half an hour I hear a movement in the backseat and when Jihl looks back I hear a slight gasp and more motion so I pull the car over and say, "I know you're back there Valarie."

"How did you figure it out," She asks as she sits up.

"I didn't. You just gave yourself up," I say and she growls again.

"Dang it!" She shouts.

"Who was the other one of you?"

"Garnet," She says.

"Well that explains why she looked and acted so much like you. She did travel with a 'theater' group for a while," I say as I pull the car back onto the road in the same direction.

"Wait you're not taking me home?" She asks.

"No, Hope said it was urgent. Anyway, we were actually testing you. We had assumed you would try to sneak along."

Her jaw drops and she starts muttering, "How did… When… What?!"

"We're your parents. We have figured out your tricks," Jihl explains to her.

"When did you figure it out?"

"When Dagger believed your mom about draining the gas. She wouldn't do that to her car," I tell my daughter.

I pull the car up to the curb outside of Hope's house and we walk up to the door. I knock and the speaker next to the door comes on, "Akio hurry up. I'm in the lab. I need you to see this. Jihl and Valarie, you may need to see this as well," Hopes voice says then I open the door and we walk towards the lab.

We enter the lab and I ask Hope, "What's the problem?"

"Your brother, Aqua, and Emily are missing. I can't even get Logan's signal but Aqua's is coming through but I can't get a message to her," Hope tells me.

"What about Liam?" I ask hoping at least one of them is okay.

"Lightning took him to her house so he's safe there," he says when a beeping-siren occurs, "Thats a comdevice! Someone's trying to contact us."

"Well who is it?" Valerie asks but Hope ignores it and continues typing, "Hey! Did you hear me?"

"I did but I don't have an answer to your question yet. I'm still trying to find out who's it coming from," he says and continues typing until an icon pops up on the screen, "Its Aqua!"

"Aqua! Patch her in," I say.

"Already on it," Hope says and hits a couple of buttons and a screen pops up. I expect to see the friendly, blue haired keyblade warrior I've grown to know but… its something much worse.

"**Why, hello, hello my little doves**," The voice says with evil-ish joys. How can anyone understand that gibberish? Revealing the person to be a pale man with silver hair and the eyes of a demon.

"Kairu," I growl out.

"Evenings to you too Akio and look, you brought your family along too. Isn't that great… families really should stick together," he says.

"Where is Aqua?" I ask.

He chuckles before he says, "Well then why don't you introduce yourself then… Aqua," The screen moves showing Aqua except… well it isn't her. The Aqua I knew was bright and cheerful. She had a peaceful aura to her. The person I see is nothing like that. This person has hair as black as night, her clothes were the same except they were black also and she had netting around her shoulders. What stood out most was her piercing yellow eyes, almost primal like.

"What did you do to her?!"

"Me? Why I did nothing to harm her, if thats what you're thinking. On the contrary, I saved her life. You can relate to that can't you?" Kairu says.

"You probably only saved her after you put her in harms way!" Hope exclaims.

"Tell us what happened to her!" Valarie shouts.

"I killed her light in order to contain her darkness. Now… she is reborn stronger than ever. Allow me to introduce, my **beautiful** mate, Mizu," he says then licks the side of her face, what shocks me more is how Aqua lets it happen. Then she grabs his face and… kisses him. I'm disgusted and mortified at this point.

"Thanks to Kairu I have seen the great truth that was hidden from Eraqus' lies. Darkness isn't the enemy but an ally. We all have great darkness with us that needs to be released. I have unleashed mine… so I no longer need to rely on the light for anything at all," Aqua says as she summons he keyblade then… smashes it on her knee, "This is me… the true me that has been hidden all this time… and this is my power!" She then does the same action she did to summon her keyblade and a dark mass appears. When the dark clouds around it fade I can see a keyblade like none I have ever seen before.

It has the blade of a sword and the guard doesn't touch the bottom of the hilt like on most keyblades. Even with how different it looks I feel a strange familiarity with it.

"So you decided it was right to take a keyblade from the Graveyard?" I hear a voice behind me say and my dad steps forward, "That blade belonged to one of my ancestors! How do you dare take a blade from there! You had already betrayed my son, your husband, but now you have betrayed his family!"

"As far as I'm concerned you can all burn along with that pathetic excuse for a man. He never understood what was really within me. He tried to contain, just like everybody was doing in my life… trying to control the darkness, treating me like a puppet so I could follow in the light, but no more. For now on I will determine my own path… and no one is gonna stop me," Aqua says then disappears in a flash.

"Now look what you did," Kairu says, "You made her angry. You sure know how to take care of your own Anthony."

"Where is my son?" My dad asks angrily.

"Oh you don't know. I guess your son was too afraid to tell you himself. Its hilarious actually… once you think about," Kairu says and my dad growls.

"What did you do to him?!"

"I'm getting accused for a lot things now, aren't I. Your precious little boy is now removed from the game of fate and this time… there's no second chances"

"Where's Emily?!" I ask.

"Yes, where is my granddaughter?" My dad says echoing my question.

"Indeed. Where's is little Emily? I'm sure her mother would be worried sick about her right now. Wouldn't you say so, Jihl?"

"Yes she would. If there is any of her left!" My wife shouts, "You have corrupted Aqua so far she probably doesn't even know her own kids!"

"Again with the accusing. Let me say this very clear, I saved her from dying. I guess you can say I'm her 'savior.' Whether you like it or not, this is her true self that was hidden in her shadow. What intrigues me is what you'll do next? Will you come hunt me down and try to save something that already lost… or will you sit and cower as you wait for the inevitable death? The choice is yours… and we, have no more use for you. **Goodbye my little doves**," He says and the screen goes black. Then very suddenly the screen starts to crack and a large spike sprouts from the middle of it.

My dad, Jihl, Valerie and I all duck from it as we hear more cracks and spike emerging. Hope starts trying to do something on the computer as he shout, "Get out of here! Now! I'll be behind you as soon as I finish here. Now go!"

My dad and I nod and we all start running out and as soon as we reach the door an explosion goes off throwing us all through. As I get up I hear the sound of something sharp being stabbed into the ground fast. I turn and see Hope's boomerang halfway in the ground. I can see something taped to the part that is above the ground but instead of investigating it I rush in to see if Hope is okay.

I reach what is left of the lab, the entire ceiling has collapsed but I see the upper body of my friend laying in a pool of blood, "Hope!" I shout as I rush to his side.

He coughs a lot and as I try to remove the rubble that is on him he says, "Akio…" He coughs between words, "Stop… I am… too injured… to survive… the flash… drive on my… my boomerang has… has all the… data off my… computer… including… a reco… recording… of the… conversation… with… Kai… Kairu… and… the co… coordinates… of the… the wo… world… they… are on…" He has a large coughing fit as I get the rest of the rubble off of him, then he continues as I help him up, "There… is… some… something… I need… to tell… you…" He coughs a bit more, this time blood comes up, "Logan… Logan is…" his voice cracks and he coughs again before I feel his heartbeat goes limp and… he dies in my arms… just before he was was going to tell me something about my brother.

I carry his body out of the house. My wife, my father, and my daughter all go silent as they see me carrying Hope's body, "Dad can you watch his body? There is someone I need to talk to," I then turn to my wife and daughter and add, "alone," They both nod and I hand my dad Hope's body. I grab Hope's Flash Drive, then get in my car, start the engine, put it in gear, and drive off.

* * *

**Mizu's PoV**

**Arda**

**Eregion**

The tree shook and bent as I continued to punch the bark. After I met Aqua's little posse, I had gotten so mad that I needed to release some steam. So now I'm out here in the land between Hobbition and the Misty Mountains, destroying trees one by one. I side kick the tree and it snaps in half, falling on its side into the pile of trees next to it. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and start to beat on the next tree when I hear a voice muttering in the language Kairu keeps speaking.

"**One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them**," I hear the voice saying and I look and see an old man wearing a grey cloak. He has a brown wooden staff and I can feel his magic is much more powerful than my own.

"Hey! Who are you and why are you here?!" I shout but I feel my body shaking in his presence.

He doesn't seem to notice me and he mutter in English, "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."

"Stop speaking in riddles you foolish man and tell me who you are?" I shout again.

"_**One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them**_," He mutters in the same language the two men who dared to threaten me before used. He then puts a piece of paper that was in his hand in his pocket.

"Are you done with your mumbling?"

He looks right at me then says, "Sorry ma'am. I didn't notice you there. I am Gandalf the Grey. What is your name?"

"Mizu and what kind of name is that supposed to be?"

"It is Dalish for Elf of the Wand. Where are you from?"

I'm about to say the dark lands until I stop myself. I don't know who this man is but his magic is incredible so I better make something up instead, "I don't have a home. I travel a lot so I don't stay in one place as much."

"Ah. So are you a mercenary?"

"Nothing of the sorts, I'm just a woman who follows the wind," I reply.

"Well, I fear the winds of change are upon us. I would recommend you start to avoid that wind before it is too late. Speaking of late I need to be somewhere soon," He says to me and then mutters, "Though, a wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to," and continues on the way he was heading.

"Hmph, his magic is incredible yet he's too messed up in the head to do anything. What a weird world," I say and punch the tree next to me, making a huge hole in the middle of it.

"I see you're doing your training early," A voice says that makes my chest freeze.

"M-Master Kairu," I turn and see Kairu in a black leather coat making his pale skin standout, "I didn't know that you were watching."

"I always stay close to what's mine," He says walking up to me. He rubs my cheek with his gloved finger, "Your are mine right?"

I feel the heat rushing to my face, "O-Of course. I'm forever indebted to you for what you done. I would lay my life on the line for you."

"As I would for you. After all you are **my precious mate**," he says in that language again.

"What is that language you keep speaking in master? I heard another man speaking in it earlier," I ask and I hear him growl.

"What man?" he says, I feel his energy growing tense and rough.

"He said his name was Gandalf the grey," I say and he stays calm, for now.

"Gandalf eh? Looks like that cryptic [censored]er was right," he says staring into the forest.

"But that language, what was it?" I ask and he looks back at me.

"Thats right, I forgot you were unknown to the language of our kind. Don't worry that can easily be fixed," he says. Before I could answer he sears his lips on to mine. I don't know what's going on but the familiar touch of his smooth, mint lips clogs all the questions. He grabs my chin, forcing my mouth open which I let happen and I feel something surging into my brain. It makes me groan in pain but ends quickly and Kairu pulls away.

"**Thank you master**," I say then I realize that the wizard was saying the same thing both times. I don't know about the third time though but who cares, "**So what does this phrase, 'One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,' mean?**"

"**All will be explained in due time my love, for now I think there's other things you can do with that tongue**," He says and the heat returns. He smirks before kissing me again this time with a passionate purpose. I wrap my arms around around his neck as he pushes us onto a nearby tree. I feel his hands roam my body before he picks me up, his lips still seared onto mine.

I start to tug on his hair and the kiss gets desperate and I wrap my legs around his mid-section. He breaks off the kiss and starts attacking my neck while one of his hands reach for my top and the other breaches in between tween my thighs. I shiver in anticipation, waiting for my master to claim me when I hear the grass rustle in front of us. I hear Kairu growl as his grip tightens, pinning me closer to the tree.

"**You better have a good reason for interrupting me**," He says without looking at the intruders. I see that it's some of the warriors in the horde.

"**The Dark Lord wishes for you to be present**," One of them say and Kairu growls again.

"**Tell him I'm busy. I don't have any time for his pointless rants.**"

"**He says its important. Its the matter of the ring… and your mate**," Kairu groans and lets me down, much to my disapproval. He smooths down my clothing and steps back from me.

"Go home, get something battle-ready to wear," he whispers in my ear.

"Why do I need to be battle ready?" I whisper back.

"Because… I believe that you're gonna be in a fight pretty soon," he says then walks with the warriors. I open a corridor and return to the tower.

* * *

**Kairu's PoV**

**Barad'dûr**

**Rooftop**

I never liked Sauron. Not because he interrupted me in delving in my pleasure, well thats partially true but its his concept for world domination. Its so… bland. There's nothing exciting to me that makes his cause great. He wants the world in his hands yet he doesn't know how to make it turn.

"**Lord Sauron**," The witch-king says as he enters, if Sauron has called him then that must mean he knows where the ring is, "**We have learned of a creature who should know the current bearer of the ring**," or not, then again… I'm not surprised. These people wouldn't know a brick from cobblestone.

"**So you dare disrespect me when I am the one who decides whether or not the girl can live?**" I hear in my head as the eye turns towards me.

"**Don't drag her into this just yet. Besides I wasn't disrespecting you I was disrespecting your colleagues.**"

"**Most of them aren't so powerful but Gothmog is the one who weeds out the weak. But back to the ring. Angmar what is this creature you are talking about?**"

"**It's name is Gollum. He kept calling out, 'My Precious is lost!" so he was pretty easy to find. He is tight lipped about who took the ring from him though**," The ringwraith explains.

"**If I still had a body this all would be so much easier**," He says in what sounds like a groan of annoyance.

"**Sorry my lord I will send in Khamul when 'Gollum' speaks**," The witch-king says then flies off.

"**Who is this 'Gollum' you speak of?**" I ask.

"**A hobbit that was turned into a goblin-like creature when he held my ring after my orcs shot Isildur then forgot to look for the ring. He held the ring for nearly three thousand years before it was stolen from him,**" Sauron tells me.

"**Three-thousand years? He must've been one greedy little hobbit**," I say.

"**That and my ring transports you to the other realm, where only I and the ringwraiths live, when you put it on. Well me, the ringwraiths, and those weird creatures of yours.**"

"**They're not weird. Just misunderstood, like me**."

"**Well now onto the business of the girl. First off, I don't like the fact that you allowed an outsider into the horde without notifying me**."

"**I figured you would worry more about your horde instead of a little girl.**"

"**You realize that there are no female orcs or goblins in the horde, right? Do you know why?**"

"**I honestly don't care but I can go ahead and play on. Why?**"

"**Because the would all be [censored]ing instead of fighting!**"

"**What do the urges of an orc have anything to do with my mate?**"

"**They haven't seen a woman in years except for the one's they kill on raids. What do you think will happen if they see her?**"

"**If they valued their worthless lives then they better not even glance at her. No one touches what is mine! Not even you.**"

"**I am an eye in this realm! How in the… nevermind thats not what this is about. I want proof that she can defeat anyone who tries to counter the horde or any member of the horde who goes after her. Gothmog has volunteered to fight her. Don't worry he just didn't want anyone else testing out someone who is new to the horde. Warriors pride he called it.**"

"**Oh so he's one of those types. Alright then… you can come out now!**" I say and Mizu appears in front of us, she wears Aqua's old keyblade armor except its black and has gold highlights. I then hear a grunt and a growl as a warg being ridden by the lieutenant of the horde, a hideously deformed orc, appears.

"**So you're the new one aren't you,**" Gothmog says as he draws his sword, "**Time for you to prove your worth!**" He says and his warg charges at her. Their blades clash and Mizu jumps back onto one of the spike that holds Sauron's eye. She casts Dark Firaga towards Gothmog who deflects it and it goes up in the air. She jumps down and swings her sword downward as she goes down. The warg bites her keyblade and slams her into the ground. Before the warg can do anything else I launch the Dark Heart Keyblade at it, slicing its head clean off.

"**This bout is between you and her. No one else**," I say and nod at her. I see a gleam in her eyes as she nods back, "**He's not even on your level Mizu, end this charade."**

She quickly stands back up and casts a pair of dark firaga casts at him. He deflects one and the other makes contact knocking him off balance. He draws another sword and then charges at her. She blocks one of the strikes and uses her motion to spin behind Gothmog, dodging the other strike, and then she cuts off his left arm which falls of the tower. He sheathes his remaining sword and says "**She's worthy of being in the horde lord sauron**," He smirks, I think, before he walks back down the stairs.

"**He hasn't deemed anyone worthy in thirty years. You truly must be powerful**," Sauron says.

"**I was actually trying not to harm him,**" Mizu says with a smirk as she deactivates the armor, "Since he is your lieutenant."

"**Well then. Are you now comfortable with her joining the ranks**," I say walking next to her and holding her by her waist, "**Or do you need her to prove more just to satisfy yourself?**"

"**No, that won't be necessary, I don't want to end up with an army of one-armed soldiers**," Sauron says, "**You may now leave. I'll summon you once we retrieved 'Gollum**,'"

I nod then grab Mizu's hand and walk back inside the tower. A couple of Orcs stood near the entrance as if they were waiting on something. I notice how they ignore my eyes and they avert their attention to something else… or someone else. I snarl as I summon 'Dark Heart' and slash off all their ugly faces, their heads rolling with their bodies lying limp on the floor.

"**Master… **what was that about?" Mizu asks before I crush her lips against blade falls on the floor as I tangle my tongue with hers. She responds with a moan before I pull back.

"No one touches what is mine, no one," I say as I kiss her again before throwing her over my shoulder.

"Where are we going?" she asks and I smirk, even though she can't see it.

"Isn't obvious… **I'm about to claim what is mine.**"

* * *

**Akio's PoV**

**Etra**

**Daemon and Vanille's House**

I get out of the car and walk up to the house. The house is one-story and has a great garden display, kinda of makes me feel like Jihl could do a better job with our garden. Then again, the last time she tried, our front yard looked like a graveyard. Thank god she isn't here right now. I knock and the bark of a dog, almost makes my soul jump out of my body. The barking continues until I hear voice from inside, causing it to stop. The door opens and reveals a woman with orange hair in pigtails, wearing a pink blouse with red flower decals, a white tank top underneath with jean shorts on.

"Akio! Its so good to see you," Vanille says and hugs me.

"Nice to see you too Vanille but I have some bad news and I thought you should be the first one to know," I say.

"What is it?" she says when I hear growling, "Hold on. Kenya, get out of here… go, shoo," the dog growls again and Vanille groans, "Daemon!"

"Kenya! Come here girl!" I hear a male shout and I hear the sound of paws walking away.

"Sorry about that. Kenya is territorial. Come on in," she opens the door, the cool air going out along with the smell of fruits and flowers. We both walk into the living room and sit down, "So what do you want to tell me?"

"Actually I would rather show you," I say as I pull out the flash drive, "Do you have a laptop?"

"No but Daemon does. Give me a second," she says and jogs down the hall. She returns with a red laptop and turns it on, "Alright, here ya go."

I plug in the flash drive and pull up the security footage from the conversation with Kairu to Hope's last moments. Before I press play I say, "I think Daemon should see this too."

"What would I see exactly?" I hear a new voice enter. I look to see that its Daemon except he's shirtless, sweaty and his ponytail is gone making his hair longer and flow like a river.

"First you'll learn the reason for the Solar Flare earlier. Then some more shocking information," I tell him.

"Solar Flare? There was a solar flare today? Why didn't anyone tell me?" He says.

"Probably because it wasn't really a solar flare. It was something else. Please just watch the video."

"Ugh, Fine but this better be good," he says and he sits next to Vanille. I start the security video.

The expressions on their faces tell it all. Daemon is in complete shock and Vanille has her face in her hands, on the verge of breaking down in front of us. Daemon drags her towards him and she starts to cry on his chest while Daemon tries to soothe her.

"So… Logan's gone," he says and I nod, "Along with Hope," I nod again, "And the Aqua we know is no more."

"Yes. I thought that Vanille should be the first to know because of how they had been each other's best friends after the purge."

"What about Claire? Does she know?"

"No I came here first. I was going to show her and Slip the video next."

"Damn… I never expected that to happen. Babe… are you alright?" Daemon says to his beloved.

"Why did they have to die? What did they ever do to the worlds? They… They… They have children, who's gonna watch them?" she says through muffled sobs and Daemon tries to soothe her more.

"According to what Hope said, Emily is missing but Liam is with Light," I say solemnly.

"At least thats some good news," Daemon says, "So what are you gonna do?"

"This flash drive also has the coordinates of the world Kairu's message came from. I am going to see if I can find Emily. I am thinking she would be in the same world Aqua is in."

"I'm coming with you," Vanille sits up and looks at me with red eyes, "I wanna join you."

"There's no chance in hell for that to happen," Daemons says and Vanille stands up in front of him.

"And why not? I have every right to go along with him. That Kuso ttare murdered my friends!"

"I'm going alone. I don't want anyone else getting hurt. I am just going to fly in, find Emily and fly out," I say standing up.

"Along the way we kill that bastard, who killed Logan and Hope. I mean are you not even gonna get revenge for your brother at least! You owe it to him to do it!" Vanille says.

"You're doing the same thing," Daemon speaks up this time, "You only want vengeance and I'm not gonna let the woman I love become a murder and hold my child when she's born."

"And as I said I am going alone. I'm not even telling my father that I am going," I say this time.

"So its a suicide mission basically," Daemon replies.

"Only if Kairu or Aqua find me," I say. I close the program on the computer and take out the flash drive.

"And if they do, what do you plan on doing then? You're not gonna just let them get a free shot are you?" Daemon says, pushing the question more.

"I will fight Kairu but I don't know if I can fight Aqua. I know I can't kill her. No matter how much she has been corrupted," I say and Daemon sighs.

"Come with me Akio, I wanna show you something," Daemon says and I follow him into a garage. He opens it and the light reveals something big covered in a large, black sheet.

"What's under the sheet?" I ask him and I think I see him smile.

"You're familiar with Vanille's eidolon right?"

"Hecatoncheir."

"Yeah, because this is somewhat like that," He says as he pulls the sheet off revealing a slick, black, metallic bird or lion I think. It's wings are folded around the body and its tail is a sharp blade.

"Alright that is cool but why did you mention hecatoncheir just before you revealed it?"

"Because what you're looking at right now is a direct copy of an Eidolon, the first ever man-made eidolon. I copied the designed Hecatoncheir and added my own little touches to it. I call it Cielo," he explains and I'm literally in awe.

"Nice…" I say nothing else because i am speechless.

"And you wanna know what even more nice," he says then grabs a device and hits a button. It causes the metallic beast to fold in itself then a green aura surrounds it, making it shrink before it floats into Daemon's hand, "Its all yours."

"Thanks. I will need this," I say to him.

"Yeah but just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Leave his ass in pieces for me will you?" he says holding his hand out.

I shake his hand and say, "I will."

* * *

**Mizu's PoV**

**Arda**

**Eregion**

Rivendell. Homeland to the elves and considered the most peaceful place in all of middle earth… and I've been tasked to destroy it. My king gave me it to me for my first mission, to test my strength and see that if my fight with that orc was a fluke. Now I stand here along with his heartless wargs and alphas, prepared to strike down upon our enemies.

I promised my king that I would bring back the elf king's head and I intend on doing just that. I summon my 'Empress' keyblade and activate my armor. The wargs beside me begin to growl in anticipation, their lust for blood greater than mine but I serve a higher purpose. A purpose of pride… and love. Yes, I love Kairu and I know he loves me back. He told me so himself.

'_I might be heartless but I always protect what is precious to me. That includes you, Mizu. You are the most precious thing to me at this moment, and nothing will stop us from achieving our destiny._'

Those words will forever echo in my mind. I will use it as motivation to help my cause to burn this city to the ground. Nothing will stop me, nothing!

"**Forward into battle!**" I shout and the heartless run and fly into the city, leaving a trail of blackness behind them. Covering the sky as we run to the gates. As soon as the first warg reaches the gate it disappears into thin air.

I then hear a cry from on top of the wall, "_**Ready your bows!**_" I look up and see the man who had rescued Aqua. He is in the middle of a line of archers and when he gave the call they all pulled back on their bowstrings, "You! Why are you doing this after we saved you and your kids?" He asks still holding his hand up.

"The only children you should worry about is your own! I promise you on this day that Rivendell will fall!"

"You can't even get your wargs into the city! How do you plan on getting in?" He asks and the archer next to him starts to let go and he shouts, "_**Hold!**_" The archer pulls back again. He has a point the wargs can't get in no matter what they did.

'_Know your allies in this battle. Remember you're not just a warrior of the horde but a warrior of darkness. A keyblade master, use it to your advantage._'

Kings words ring in my head as I open my palm and a flame of darkness appears. I smile and hold my palm in the air as the flames shoot in the sky. The clouds get darker until their darker than the moon.

Then suddenly, lightning cracks and rain starts to fall but the weird thing is… the liquid is black. The black rain continues and from the ground black spots begin to emerge and from it… emerges a neoshadow. I smirk as more neoshadows begin to emerge from the holes and even I see what appears to be bat-like heartless but with a longer tail emerging too.

King was right. Being what I am certainly has it advantages. The neoshadows and bat-like heartless keep emerging until they completely cover the fields. Its then that I feel something shake the ground. I look and see that two darksides have appeared and are making their way towards the gate. I move to the side as the get closer and I notice the faces on the elves beginning to change from their cocky smirks.

"_**Fire your** **arrows****!**" _The man shouts and the archers release their arrows. Like all man made things, they have no effect. Although some of the non-heartless wargs have fallen we can suffer a few casualties, "_**Show no mercy for they will show you non****!**_" Some of the warriors on the wall put their bows away and draw their swords. The come down from the wall and wait on the inside of the gate. Little do these fools know the danger that awaits outside these walls.

The Darksides stand near the gate and… do nothing. Exactly nothing but standing there as if they're waiting for a command or something.

'**Beings likes us all fear the same thing, the ultimate fear in our lives. Isolation. The fear of being alone and lost… that's why there's a king. To guide the lost…**'

So thats what King meant. I walk behind the two giants and they turn their heads to me as I say, "Tear down this wall," They turn back to the gate and raise both their fists in the air. I watch in awe as they bring down their fists, crushing the gate in their palms. The wargs howl in victory but they still can't go in along with the heartless. I stay behind allowing the beings to have their fun for now. I casually walk in, seeing the bodies of the fallen before me is a beautiful sight. I notice the man who saved Aqua, alive and lying in the mud with a deep gash on his forehead. I walk up to him and brush his hair away so I can see his face.

"So, what was that about not getting into the city?" I say and he groans.

"You… even if you win here you won't defeat us all!"

"Who said I wanted to win. I just came here to satisfy my King's wishes. I could care less if your precious home gets burned to ashes. Thats just a bonus if you ask me," I say and he stares deeply into my eyes.

"You… Y-You're a monster."

"I'm flattered. No one's ever called me a monster before. Be very grateful I decided to spare your life, because I'll kill you the next time we meet. Now, I'm off to see your precious Elf King, salutations!" I say walking away from the man and into the ensuing chaos.

As soon as I turn my back to him I can hear him stand up behind me, "You just turned your back to him," He says then I feel a sword start to go into my back so I quickly move forward away from the blade, turn around and see that his forehead is no longer cut open. He actually looks completely healed.

"How?"

"Ask your master, if you survive," he says as he charges at me. I dodge his first attack and summon my keyblade to block the other, "So you've changed your weapon," He says.

"Yes I have. Which is what I can say less about your hairstyle," I say then kick him in the gut.

He quickly recovers then his sword starts to glow as he says, in that stupid language of his, "Nessa, Dancer of Valar, Lend me the speed I need to protect this land you have given us," He then becomes twice as fast a Ventus in Akio's car, so fast I truly can't keep him in my sight. Wait, who the hell is Ventus and Akio?

That question gets answered as I get knocked down by a huge gust of wind. I turn and catch only a glimpse of him before he dashes behind me and slashes me in the back. I jump up and fire a hail of dark energy at him. His new speed helps him to dodge most but then something happens to him and he stops. The wound on his forehead reappears and I see bits of mogul steel in the wound. He then gets hit by one of the dark blast sending him to the ground.

I walk over to him and cut off his arms so that even if he stands he won't be able to attack. As soon as I do the wargs rush in and join the fight. The man tries to stand but I kick him down and put my blade near his neck.

"_**Father**_!" I hear a man shout and I look up to see two elves, one of them is charging at me while the other shoots an arrow at me, but I block it easily.

"Step away from our father!" the archer shouts. The one that charges swings at me, but I dodge most of his attacks, hit him with the hilt of my blade, and kick him back to the archer.

"Oh so this is your father? Then this makes your death even more sweet elf king. So take your glimpse at your children before…" The archer has fired another arrow straight at my face and I grab it just in time, "So rude. You should learn some manners."

I throw the arrow back at him and he easily rolls away. I then fire a black thunderbolt behind him, causing him and his brother to fly towards me and I slice at his abdomen as he hits the ground beside me. The archer tries to fire another arrow but a neoshadow leaps on him. He tries to shake it off but the neoshadow stays vigilant and bites him in the neck, causing him to fall on his stomach. His body disappears soon after the Heartless takes his heart. His brother destroys the heartless afterwards using his sword.

"Now, where was I? Man its on the tip of my tongue, hmm. Oh, thats right! The topic of your death," I say as I raise my blade to slice the man's head off. My blood pumping in anticipation to slice of his damn head… when a voice strangely stops me.

"Mommie?" A very young, scared, and confused voice says, "Lat are you doing to Mr. Ewrond?"

'Who is this little girl? Why isn't she running away? Why…' I look up at her and then the feeling of remorse empowers my mind and I black out from the battle. The only image I have is that little girl's frightened face." Another woman says as she walks in. I wish I could understand what they were saying.

"Are you sure about this Arwen? If you do let it be known that you are now responsible for her," Then man who was carrying me says.

"I am sure father. I will take full responsibility for her," The second woman says.

"At least until the parents are found. Right sister?" One of the two look a-likes says

"Of course Elladan. I was implying that," The woman says.

"What about you," the man says to me, "do you want to go with her?"

"Lo?" I ask.

"Me," The second woman replies.

"I lant Mommy," I say and the man who brought me here nods.

"I understand you want your mom but we don't know where she is," he says.

"If you will allow me to, I will take care of you until we find her," The woman says.

"Awright…" I say sadly. The woman picks me up.

"Don't worry," She says to me, "I trusted my father many times in life, I know I can trust him with finding your mother."

"Promise?" I ask her.

"Promise. Now come, we need to get you some clothing that is more suitable for you," she says and walks out of the room with me. I don't know who this woman is or why she agreed to watch over me but she says I can trust the other man to find mommy. I hope he finds her soon, I miss her… and Daddy.

* * *

Liam's PoV

Etra

Lightning and Slip's House

Thunder had taken into what Dad told me was a 'car'. I don't remember what happened after because I fell asleep but I did feel the car stop which made me wake up again. I rubbed my eyes as Thunder got me out and took me to a very small house with a bunch of trees around it and… is that the ocean?!

"Where are we?" I ask her.

"My home," she says and opens the door and a voice comes from inside.

"Mommy!" I feel her being pushed back a little. I look down and see the top of what appears to be blue chrome hair. She looks up at Thunder and I can see thats its a girl.

"Hi honey. Where's your father?" Thunder smiles and asks.

"He went to the store to get dinner, he said he'll get cookies and ice cream!" She says.

"Ice cream?!" I ask.

"Yeah! My papa's the best!" She says. My smile fades because the mention of her father reminded me that my own is missing, "What's wrong? Your dad doesn't give you ice cream and cookies?"

"Jade, stop," Thunder finally says, "You wanna show Liam the house?"

"Okay!" She nods and Thunder puts me down and walks away, "Come on, I'll show you my room first," She reaches for my hand but I pull back, "What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I just miss my daddy," I say.

"Well my mommy says that she misses her dad all the time. Even papa does with his too," she explains. I smile a little and take her hand, "Now, charge!"

"To where?"

"My room silly. Where else would we go?"

"Okay," I say and we run through house until we end up in her room. Its not big but its not small either. Her entire room is blue except for the desks and there's a huge window with the sea behind it, "Wow… your room is awesome."

"Thanks. Papa painted it, he told me that he was the one who knew blue was gonna be my favorite color."

"Like my hair," I say.

"That means were related! I always wanted a little brother," she says, takes my arms and shakes me.

"Fat means I have two sisters!"

"Yeah! Papa is gonna be so happy when he hears this," she says when a weird noise emits from outside. She runs out of the room and shouts, "Papa's back!"

Whoever this papa is, he sounds cool but he's not my dad. Not even close, either way I walk out of the room and head after Jade to meet her daddy.

* * *

Slip's PoV

I turned off my bike as I parked in the driveway. The bags had nearly flown off as I traveled back to the house, if that hadn't broken my spirit then seeing Claire's car in the driveway certainly did. She isn't gonna be happy that I left a five year old in the house alone. Well part of it is my fault because I find driving a car very uncomfortable. I don't know why its like that but I don't feel like changing it either.

I grab the bags and head towards the door to my home. Even though it isn't the same one had in Esper nor will it be, it still feels the same… except now I have a an extra member to share it with. As I open the door-with my shoulder since my hands are full-I hear a small yet hyper voice ring off the walls.

"Papa!" My daughter, Jade, comes running to me as I drop the bags on the counter and swoop her in my arms.

"Hey! How's my baby girl doing?" I say and she giggles.

"Good. Mommy came home and I have a little brother now!" She says and I feel like a stone dropped in my stomach.

"A… A little brother?" I say, praying to god that I was just imagining things and she just kidding that she has a little brother. Does she? Did Claire get pregnant again? Oh god I knew I should've used it. Why me? Why is it always me?

"Yeah. He even has blue hair, just like my room. Would you like to see him?"

"Yeah… sure," I say and let her down so she can get her 'little brother'. She comes back after a few minutes and brings back… Liam?

"Papa, meet my little brother, Liam. Say hi to papa, Liam," She says and the boy is hesitant to talk until Jade urges him on.

"Hello, Shadowman," He says to me and I realize that he must remember me from when we were on Logan's little show last year.

"Its Tristan, well for your case Mr. Dramuid. So why are you here again Liam?" I ask the kid.

"I was alone at Hope's and he couldn't find mommy and daddy…" He tells me and I curse under my breath. I knew it was convenient that I felt a burning sensation on my neck. I had debunked it as my body just acting up… but now I know it wasn't. Logan is dead… and I wasn't there to help him.

"Jade, where's mommy?"

"She went in her room," She points to the hall leading to the master bedroom.

Great, "Jade take Liam outside okay?"

"Why? Is there something wrong with mommy?"

'Yeah her close friend just died,' I think to myself. Good thing I didn't say that out loud.

"No. I just need to talk to her for a couple seconds," I explain to her.

"She isn't crying right? Didn't you tell me that you promised to never make her cry?" she says and I laugh to myself. That girl has a memory like a bookkeeper.

"Yes I did… and I also promised ice cream and cookies right?" I say and she nods, "Well then you go ahead and hang out with Liam and after I'm done I'll go ahead and treat us all."

"Okay! Come on, Liam," Jade takes his hand and drags him into her room and the door shuts. I sigh before walking to the bedroom. I can feel the depression emitting from the room, god I knew that Logan and Claire were close but I never thought that it was that bad. I take a deep breath and open the door, revealing Claire on the bed, lying her side. Her back is to me and she is in her usual business get up.

I laid on the bed next to her but I don't touch her. We both say nothing. Logan was a true friend, although he would act out sometimes, everybody loved him the same… especially his wife and kids. I decide to finally speak.

"Claire… are you okay?"

"Do you remember in Esper when I was about to get jumped by that gang?" she says out of nowhere.

I smile and say, "How could I forget. That was the first time we ever fought together, but how is that related?"

"It was Logan who told me to get out more," she says, " He said if I was gonna sit around and do nothing then I wasn't really living. I was just waiting for my turn to die… I laughed about it until I finally left and… I met you. If it wasn't for him… then I… then I wouldn't have the family I love so much," Her voice is starting to crack and I take this chance to turn her around and put her in my arms.

She cries on my chest, damping my white shirt in the process. I let her cry out for her fallen friend, we both known the pain of losing someone you love, well she knew it the most. I had no one in the beginning, all I knew was darkness. I won't let that get into Claire's mind, not even for a second.

"Claire… its okay," I say to reassure her.

"I just feel like I could've done something," she muffles through my soaked shirt.

"Me too Claire… me too," I pull her closer and start to her rub her back.

"Everyone close to me is starting to die… leaving me to be alone in this world."

"I'm not. Neither is Jade. We're still here," I say and she lifts her head from my shirt. Her eyes and face red with strands of hair stuck to her face.

"I want you all to be here. I know it sounds selfish but I just don't want anyone I love to die," she says.

"I understand but no one can live forever. We all have to pass on someday."

"I know but it hurts so much."

"Well thats what I'm here for. To comfort you in your pain, to help you get through times just like these and to keep you happy. In sickness and in health, until death does us part," I see more tears starting to emerge but I wipe them away, "Don't cry. Remember our promise?"

"How could I forget…you told me over ten times," she says and I chuckle in response.

"Only to remind myself. I would do anything to make my wife happy," I say as I pull her closer to me and she reacts with a blush. Its amazing how I can still make my wife blush. Yep I still got it. I smirk at her innocence and lean in for a short, lingering kiss.

I pull back but her grip on my shirt tightens and she brings me back for an intense kiss. I couldn't help but kiss her back, one of my hands now moving to the back of her head. Eventually I have to breathe and I pull out of the kiss, much to her disapproval.

I smile knowing I have her hooked as she tries to pull off my shirt. I help her then toss it away in the room then start to kiss and lick down her neck. Smirking as I get a moan to emit from her and I shift my body so I'm on top.

I did say anything didn't I?

* * *

Akio's Pov

Akio and Jihl's House

Hope has called me to go to his house. He says he has something very important to tell me. I start to walk to the door and my daughter, Valarie is standing there blocking the way, "Dad, Where are you going? I thought you were going to be training me this afternoon," She says.

"I know, Valarie, I did promise to help you learn more about the power you get from the brand but Hope called and said that there was something important he needed to tell me. He sounded confused which probably means something bad has happened," I say to her.

"Then I'll go with you," She says.

I hear footsteps behind me and turn to my wife who says, "No you won't. I don't want either of you two leaving after that solar flare earlier."

"Did you say 'solar flare?'" I ask in alarm.

"Yes there was a solar flare a few hours ago. Neither of you…" She starts as I rush out the door.

"That wasn't a Solar Flare," I say on my way out realizing what happened.

"What do you mean?!" My wife asks.

"Logan must have overloaded. I have to make sure Aqua and his kids are ok," I get in the car and start the engine.

"Then we're both coming with you, right mom?" My daughter asks.

"No you're staying here Valarie," Jihl says, "And don't get any ideas about taking my car, I am taking my keys with me."

"I'll just hotwire it you know!"

"Good luck making it move with no gas!" My wife shouts as my daughter growls and I chuckle.

"Its going to take more than quick hands to get one over on us!" I shout to her as my wife gets in the car and I take it out of park then start to drive to Hope's.

After about a half an hour I hear a movement in the backseat and when Jihl looks back I hear a slight gasp and more motion so I pull the car over and say, "I know you're back there Valarie."

"How did you figure it out," She asks as she sits up.

"I didn't. You just gave yourself up," I say and she growls again.

"Dang it!" She shouts.

"Who was the other one of you?"

"Garnet," She says.

"Well that explains why she looked and acted so much like you. She did travel with a 'theater' group for a while," I say as I pull the car back onto the road in the same direction.

"Wait you're not taking me home?" She asks.

"No, Hope said it was urgent. Anyway, we were actually testing you. We had assumed you would try to sneak along."

Her jaw drops and she starts muttering, "How did… When… What?!"

"We're your parents. We have figured out your tricks," Jihl explains to her.

"When did you figure it out?"

"When Dagger believed your mom about draining the gas. She wouldn't do that to her car," I tell my daughter.

I pull the car up to the curb outside of Hope's house and we walk up to the door. I knock and the speaker next to the door comes on, "Akio hurry up. I'm in the lab. I need you to see this. Jihl and Valarie, you may need to see this as well," Hopes voice says then I open the door and we walk towards the lab.

We enter the lab and I ask Hope, "What's the problem?"

"Your brother, Aqua, and Emily are missing. I can't even get Logan's signal but Aqua's is coming through but I can't get a message to her," Hope tells me.

"What about Liam?" I ask hoping at least one of them is okay.

"Lightning took him to her house so he's safe there," he says when a beeping-siren occurs, "Thats a comdevice! Someone's trying to contact us."

"Well who is it?" Valerie asks but Hope ignores it and continues typing, "Hey! Did you hear me?"

"I did but I don't have an answer to your question yet. I'm still trying to find out who's it coming from," he says and continues typing until an icon pops up on the screen, "Its Aqua!"

"Aqua! Patch her in," I say.

"Already on it," Hope says and hits a couple of buttons and a screen pops up. I expect to see the friendly, blue haired keyblade warrior I've grown to know but… its something much worse.

"Why, hello hello my little doves," The voice says with evil-ish joys. How can anyone understand that gibberish? Revealing the person to be a pale man with silver hair and the eyes of a demon.

"Kairu," I growl out.

"Evenings to you too Akio and look, you brought your family along too. Isn't that great… families really should stick together," he says.

"Where is Aqua?" I ask.

He chuckles before he says, "Well then why don't you introduce yourself then… Aqua," The screen moves showing Aqua except… well it isn't her. The Aqua I knew was bright and cheerful. She had a peaceful aura to her. The person I see is nothing like that. This person has hair as black as night, her clothes were the same except they were black also and she had netting around her shoulders. What stood out most was her piercing yellow eyes, almost primal like.

"What did you do to her?!"

"Me? Why I did nothing to harm her, if thats what you're thinking. On the contrary, I saved her life. You can relate to that can't you?" Kairu says.

"You probably only saved her after you put her in harms way!" Hope exclaims.

"Tell us what happened to her!" Valarie shouts.

"I killed her light in order to contain her darkness. Now… she is reborn stronger than ever. Allow me to introduce, my beautiful mate, Mizu," he says then licks the side of her face, what shocks me more is how Aqua lets it happen. Then she grabs his face and… kisses him. I'm disgusted and mortified at this point.

"Thanks to Kairu I have seen the great truth that was hidden from Eraqus' lies. Darkness isn't the enemy but an ally. We all have great darkness with us that needs to be released. I have unleashed mine… so I no longer need to rely on the light for anything at all," Aqua says as she summons he keyblade then… smashes it on her knee, "This is me… the true me that has been hidden all this time… and this is my power!" She then does the same action she did to summon her keyblade and a dark mass appears. When the dark clouds around it fade I can see a keyblade like none I have ever seen before.

It has the blade of a sword and the guard doesn't touch the bottom of the hilt like on most keyblades. Even with how different it looks I feel a strange familiarity with it.

"So you decided it was right to take a keyblade from the Graveyard?" I hear a voice behind me say and my dad steps forward, "That blade belonged to one of my ancestors! How do you dare take a blade from there! You had already betrayed my son, your husband, but now you have betrayed his family!"

"As far as I'm concerned you can all burn along with that pathetic excuse for a man. He never understood what was really within me. He tried to contain, just like everybody was doing in my life… trying to control the darkness, treating me like a puppet so I could follow in the light, but no more. For now on I will determine my own path… and no one is gonna stop me," Aqua says then disappears in a flash.

"Now look what you did," Kairu says, "You made her angry. You sure know how to take care of your own Anthony."

"Where is my son?" My dad asks angrily.

"Oh you don't know. I guess your son was too afraid to tell you himself. Its hilarious actually… once you think about," Kairu says and my dad growls.

"What did you do to him?!"

"I'm getting accused for a lot things now, aren't I. Your precious little boy is now removed from the game of fate and this time… there's no second chances"

"Where's Emily?!" I ask.

"Yes, where is my granddaughter?" My dad says echoing my question.

"Indeed. Where's is little Emily? I'm sure her mother would be worried sick about her right now. Wouldn't you say so, Jihl?"

"Yes she would. If there is any of her left!" My wife shouts, "You have corrupted Aqua so far she probably doesn't even know her own kids!"

"Again with the accusing. Let me say this very clear, I saved her from dying. I guess you can say I'm her 'savior.' Whether you like it or not, this is her true self that was hidden in her shadow. What intrigues me is what you'll do next? Will you come hunt me down and try to save something that already lost… or will you sit and cower as you wait for the inevitable death? The choice is yours… and we, have no more use for you. Goodbye my little doves," He says and the screen goes black. Then very suddenly the screen starts to crack and a large spike sprouts from the middle of it.

My dad, Jihl, Valerie and I all duck from it as we hear more cracks and spike emerging. Hope starts trying to do something on the computer as he shout, "Get out of here! Now! I'll be behind you as soon as I finish here. Now go!"

My dad and I nod and we all start running out and as soon as we reach the door an explosion goes off throwing us all through. As I get up I hear the sound of something sharp being stabbed into the ground fast. I turn and see Hope's boomerang halfway in the ground. I can see something taped to the part that is above the ground but instead of investigating it I rush in to see if Hope is okay.

I reach what is left of the lab, the entire ceiling has collapsed but I see the upper body of my friend laying in a pool of blood, "Hope!" I shout as I rush to his side.

He coughs a lot and as I try to remove the rubble that is on him he says, "Akio…" He coughs between words, "Stop… I am… too injured… to survive… the flash… drive on my… my boomerang has… has all the… data off my… computer… including… a reco… recording… of the… conversation… with… Kai… Kairu… and… the co… coordinates… of the… the wo… world… they… are on…" He has a large coughing fit as I get the rest of the rubble off of him, then he continues as I help him up, "There… is… some… something… I need… to tell… you…" He coughs a bit more, this time blood comes up, "Logan… Logan is…" his voice cracks and he coughs again before I feel his heartbeat goes limp and… he dies in my arms… just before he was was going to tell me something about my brother.

I carry his body out of the house. My wife, my father, and my daughter all go silent as they see me carrying Hope's body, "Dad can you watch his body? There is someone I need to talk to," I then turn to my wife and daughter and add, "alone," They both nod and I hand my dad Hope's body. I grab Hope's Flash Drive, then get in my car, start the engine, put it in gear, and drive off.

* * *

Mizu's PoV

Arda

Eregion

The tree shook and bent as I continued to punch the bark. After I met Aqua's little posse, I had gotten so mad that I needed to release some steam. So now I'm out here in the land between Hobbition and the Misty Mountains, destroying trees one by one. I side kick the tree and it snaps in half, falling on its side into the pile of trees next to it. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and start to beat on the next tree when I hear a voice muttering in the language Kairu keeps speaking.

"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul," I hear the voice saying and I look and see an old man wearing a grey cloak. He has a brown wooden staff and I can feel his magic is much more powerful than my own.

"Hey! Who are you and why are you here?!" I shout but I feel my body shaking in his presence.

He doesn't seem to notice me and he mutter in english, "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."

"Stop speaking in riddles you foolish man and tell me who you are?" I shout again.

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them," He mutters in the same language the two men who dared to threaten me before used. He then puts a piece of paper that was in his hand in his pocket.

"Are you done with your mumbling?"

He looks right at me then says, "Sorry ma'am. I didn't notice you there. I am Gandalf the Grey. What is your name?"

"Mizu and what kind of name is that supposed to be?"

"It is Dalish for Elf of the Wand. Where are you from?"

I'm about to say the dark lands until I stop myself. I don't know who this man is but his magic is incredible so I better make something up instead, "I don't have a home. I travel alot so I don't stay in one place as much."

"Ah. So are you a mercenary?"

"Nothing of the sorts, I'm just a woman who follows the wind," I reply.

"Well, I fear the winds of change are upon us. I would recommend you start to avoid that wind before it is too late. Speaking of late I need to be somewhere soon," He says to me and then mutters, "Though, a wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to," and continues on the way he was heading.

"Hmph, his magic is incredible yet he's too messed up in the head to do anything. What a weird world," I say and punch the tree next to me, making a huge hole in the middle of it.

"I see you're doing your training early," A voice says that makes my chest freeze.

"M-Master Kairu," I turn and see Kairu in a black leather coat making his pale skin standout, "I didn't know that you were watching."

"I always stay close to what's mine," He says walking up to me. He rubs my cheek with his gloved finger, "Your are mine right?"

I feel the heat rushing to my face, "O-Of course. I'm forever indebted to you for what you done. I would lay my life on the line for you."

"As I would for you. After all you are my precious mate," he says in that language again.

"What is that language you keep speaking in master? I heard another man speaking in it earlier," I ask and I hear him growl.

"What man?" he says, I feel his energy growing tense and rough.

"He said his name was Gandalf the grey," I say and he stays calm, for now.

"Gandalf eh? Looks like that crypted [censored]er was right," he says staring into the forest.

"But that language, what was it?" I ask and he looks back at me.

"Thats right, I forgot you were unknown to the language of our kind. Don't worry that can easily be fixed," he says. Before I could answer he sears his lips on to mine. I don't know what's going on but the familiar touch of his smooth, mint lips clogs all the questions. He grabs my chin, forcing my mouth open which I let happen and I feel something surging into my brain. It makes me groan in pain but ends quickly and Kairu pulls away.

"Thank you master," I say then I realize that the wizard was saying the same thing both times. I don't know about the third time though but who cares, "So what does this phrase, 'Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul,' mean?"

"All will be explained in due time my love, for now I think there's other things you can do with that tongue," He says and the heat returns. He smirks before kissing me again this time with a passionate purpose. I wrap my arounds around his neck as he pushes us onto a nearby tree. I feel his hands roam my body before he picks me up, his lips still seared onto mine.

I start to tug on his hair and the kiss gets desperate and I wrap my legs around his mid-section. He breaks off the kiss and starts attacking my neck while one of his hands reach for my top and the other bereaches in between tween my thighs. I shiver in anticipation, waiting for my master to claim me when I hear the grass rustle in front of us. I hear Kairu growl as his grip tightens, pinning me closer to the tree.

"You better have a good reason for interrupting me," He says without looking at the intruders. I see that its some of the warriors in the horde.

"The Burza Lord wishes for you to be present," One of them say and Kairu growls again.

"Tell him I'm busy. I don't have any time for his pointless rants."

"He says its important. Its the matter of the ring… and your mate," Kairu groans and lets me down, much to my disapproval. He smooths down my clothing and steps back from me.

"Go home, get something battle-ready to wear," he whispers in my ear.

"Why do I need to be battle ready?" I whisper back.

"Because… I believe that you're gonna be in a fight pretty soon," he says then walks with the warriors. I open a corridor and return to the tower.

* * *

Kairu's PoV

Barad'dûr

Rooftop

I never liked Sauron. Not because he interrupted me in delving in my pleasure, well thats partially true but its his concept for world domination. Its so… bland. There's nothing exciting to me that makes his cause great. He wants the world in his hands yet he doesn't know how to make it turn.

"Lord Sauron," The witch-king says as he enters, if Sauron has called him then that must mean he knows where the ring is, "We have learned of a creature who should know the current bearer of the ring," or not, then again… I'm not surprised. These people wouldn't know a brick from cobblestone.

"So you dare disrespect me when I am the one who decides whether or not the girl can live?" I hear in my head as the eye turns towards me.

"Don't drag her into this just yet. Besides I wasn't disrespecting you I was disrespecting your colleagues."

"Most of them aren't so powerful but Gothmog is the one who weeds out the weak. But back to the ring. Angmar what is this creature you are talking about?"

"It's name is Gollum. He kept calling out, 'My Precious is lost!" so he was pretty easy to find. He is tight lipped about who took the ring from him though," The ringwraith explains.

"If I still had a body this all would be so much easier," He says in what sounds like a groan of annoyance.

"Sorry my lord I will send in Khamul when 'Gollum' speaks," The witch-king says then flies off.

"Who is this 'Gollum' you speak of?" I ask.

"A hobbit that was turned into a goblin-like creature when he held my ring after my orcs shot isildur then forgot to look for the ring. He held the ring for nearly three thousand years before it was stolen from him," Sauron tells me.

"Three-thousand years? He must've been one greedy little hobbit," I say.

"That and my ring transports you to the other realm, where only I and the ringwraiths live, when you put it on. Well me, the ringwraiths, and those weird creatures of yours."

"They're not weird. Just misunderstood, like me."

"Well now onto the business of the girl. First off, I don't like the fact that you allowed an outsider into the horde with my notification."

"I figured you would worry more about your horde instead of a little girl."

"You realize that there are no female orcs or goblins in the horde, right? Do you know why?"

"I honestly don't care but I can go ahead and play on. Why?"

"Because the would all be [censored]ing instead of fighting!"

"What do the urges of an orc have anything to do with my mate?"

"They haven't seen a woman in years except for the one's they kill on raids. What do you think will happen if they see her?"

"If they valued their worthless lives then they better not even glance at her. No one touches what is mine! Not even you."

"I am an eye in this realm! How in the… nevermind thats not what this is about. I want proof that she can defeat anyone who tries to counter the horde or any member of the horde who goes after her. Gothmog has volunteered to fight her. Don't worry he just didn't want anyone else testing out someone who is new to the horde. Warriors pride he called it."

"Oh so he's one of those types. Alright then… you can come out now!" I say and Mizu appears in front of us, she wears Aqua's old keyblade armor except its black and has gold highlights. I then hear a grunt and a growl as a warg being ridden by the lieutenant of the horde, a hideously deformed orc, appears.

"So you're the new one aren't you," Gothmog says as he draws his sword, "Time for you to prove your worth!" He says and his warg charges at her. Their blades clash and Mizu jumps back onto one of the spike that holds Sauron's eye. She casts Dark Firaga towards Gothmog who deflects it and it goes up in the air. She jumps down and swings her sword downward as she goes down. The warg bites her keyblade and slams her into the ground. Before the warg can do anything else I launch the Dark Heart Keyblade at it, slicing its head clean off.

"This bout is between you and her. No one else," I say and nod at her. I see a gleam in her eyes as she nods back, 'He's not even on your level Mizu, end this charade.'

She quickly stands back up and casts a pair of dark firaga casts at him. He deflects one and the other makes contact knocking him off balance. He draws another sword and then charges at her. She blocks one of the strikes and uses her motion to spin behind Gothmog, dodging the other strike, and then she cuts off his left arm which falls of the tower. He sheathes his remaining sword and says "She's worthy of being in the horde lord sauron," He smirks, I think, before he walks back down the stairs.

"He hasn't deemed anyone worthy in thirty years. You truly must be powerful," Sauron says.

"I was actually trying not to harm him," Mizu says with a smirk as she deactivates the armor, "Since he is your lieutenant."

"Well then. Are you now comfortable with her joining the ranks," I say walking next to her and holding her by her waist, "Or do you need her to prove more just to satisfy yourself?"

"No, that won't be necessary, I don't want to end up with an army of one-armed soldiers," Sauron says, "You may now leave. I'll summon you once we retrieved 'Gollum,'"

I nod then grab Mizu's hand and walk back inside the tower. A couple of Orcs stood near the entrance as if they were waiting on something. I notice how they ignore my eyes and they avert their attention to something else… or someone else. I snarl as I summon 'Dark Heart' and slash off all their ugly faces, their heads rolling with their bodies lying limp on the floor.

"Master… what was that about?" Mizu asks before I crush her lips against blade falls on the floor as I tangle my tongue with hers. She responds with a moan before I pull back.

"No one touches what is mine, no one," I say as I kiss her again before throwing her over my shoulder.

"Where are we going?" she asks and I smirk, even though she can't see it.

"Isn't obvious… I'm about to claim what is mine."

* * *

Akio's PoV

Etra

Daemon and Vanille's House

I get out of the car and walk up to the house. The house is one-story and has a great garden display, kinda of makes me feel like Jihl could do a better job with our garden. Then again, the last time she tried, our front yard looked like a graveyard. Thank god she isn't here right now. I knock and the bark of a dog, almost makes my soul jump out of my body. The barking continues until I hear voice from inside, causing it to stop. The door opens and reveals a woman with orange hair in pigtails, wearing a pink blouse with red flower decals, a white tank top underneath with jean shorts on.

"Akio! Its so good to see you," Vanille says and hugs me.

"Nice to see you too Vanille but I have some bad news and I thought you should be the first one to know," I say.

"What is it?" she says when I hear growling, "Hold on. Kenya, get out of here… go, shoo," the dog growls again and Vanille groans, "Daemon!"

"Kenya! Come here girl!" I hear a male shout and I hear the sound of paws walking away.

"Sorry about that. Kenya is territorial. Come on in," she opens the door, the cool air going out along with the smell of fruits and flowers. We both walk into the living room and sit down, "So what do you want to tell me?"

"Actually I would rather show you," I say as I pull out the flash drive, "Do you have a laptop?"

"No but Daemon does. Give me a second," she says and jogs down the hall. She returns with a red laptop and turns it on, "Alright, here ya go."

I plug in the flash drive and pull up the security footage from the conversation with Kairu to Hope's last moments. Before I press play I say, "I think Daemon should see this too."

"What would I see exactly?" I hear a new voice enter. I look to see that its Daemon except he's shirtless, sweaty and his ponytail is gone making his hair longer and flow like a river.

"First you'll learn the reason for the Solar Flare earlier. Then some more shocking information," I tell him.

"Solar Flare? There was a solar flare today? Why didn't anyone tell me?" He says.

"Probably because it wasn't really a solar flare. It was something else. Please just watch the video."

"Ugh, Fine but this better be good," he says and he sits next to Vanille. I start the security video.

The expressions on their faces tell it all. Daemon is in complete shock and Vanille has her face in her hands, on the verge of breaking down in front of us. Daemon drags her towards him and she starts to cry on his chest while Daemon tries to soothe her.

"So… Logan's gone," he says and I nod, "Along with Hope," I nod again, "And the Aqua we know is no more."

"Yes. I thought that Vanille should be the first to know because of how they had been each other's best friends after the purge."

"What about Claire? Does she know?"

"No I came here first. I was going to show her and Slip the video next."

"Damn… I never expected that to happen. Babe… are you alright?" Daemon says to his beloved.

"Why did they have to die? What did they ever do to the worlds? They… They… They have children, who's gonna watch them?" she says through muffled sobs and Daemon tries to soothe her more.

"According to what Hope said, Emily is missing but Liam is with Light," I say solemnly.

"At least thats some good news," Daemon says, "So what are you gonna do?"

"This flash drive also has the coordinates of the world Kairu's message came from. I am going to see if I can find Emily. I am thinking she would be in the same world Aqua is in."

"I'm coming with you," Vanille sits up and looks at me with red eyes, "I wanna join you."

"There's no chance in hell for that to happen," Daemons says and Vanille stands up in front of him.

"And why not? I have every right to go along with him. That Kuso ttare murdered my friends!"

"I'm going alone. I don't want anyone else getting hurt. I am just going to fly in, find Emily and fly out," I say standing up.

"Along the way we kill that bastard, who killed Logan and Hope. I mean are you not even gonna get revenge for your brother at least! You owe it to him to do it!" Vanille says.

"You're doing the same thing," Daemon speaks up this time, "You only want vengeance and I'm not gonna let the woman I love become a murder and hold my child when she's born."

"And as I said I am going alone. I'm not even telling my father that I am going," I say this time.

"So its a suicide mission basically," Daemon replies.

"Only if Kairu or Aqua find me," I say. I close the program on the computer and take out the flash drive.

"And if they do, what do you plan on doing then? You're not gonna just let them get a free shot are you?" Daemon says, pushing the question more.

"I will fight Kairu but I don't know if I can fight Aqua. I know I can't kill her. No matter how much she has been corrupted," I say and Daemon sighs.

"Come with me Akio, I wanna show you something," Daemon says and I follow him into a garage. He opens it and the light reveals something big covered in a large, black sheet.

"What's under the sheet?" I ask him and I think I see him smile.

"You're familiar with Vanille's eidolon right?"

"Hecatoncheir."

"Yeah, because this is somewhat like that," He says as he pulls the sheet off revealing a slick, black, metallic bird or lion I think. It's wings are folded around the body and its tail is a sharp blade.

"Alright that is cool but why did you mention hecatoncheir just before you revealed it?"

"Because what you're looking at right now is a direct copy of an Eidolon, the first ever man-made eidolon. I copied the designed Hecatoncheir and added my own little touches to it. I call it Cielo," he explains and I'm literally in awe.

"Nice…" I say nothing else because i am speechless.

"And you wanna know what even more nice," he says then grabs a device and hits a button. It causes the metallic beast to fold in itself then a green aura surrounds it, making it shrink before it floats into Daemon's hand, "Its all yours."

"Thanks. I will need this," I say to him.

"Yeah but just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Leave his ass in pieces for me will you?" he says holding his hand out.

I shake his hand and say, "I will."

* * *

Mizu's PoV

Arda

Eregion

Rivendell. Homeland to the elves and considered the most peaceful place in all of middle earth… and I've been tasked to destroy it. My king gave me it to me for my first mission, to test my strength and see that if my fight with that orc was a fluke. Now I stand here along with his heartless wargs and alphas, prepared to strike down upon our enemies.

I promised my king that I would bring back the elf king's head and I intend on doing just that. I summon my 'Empress' keyblade and activate my armor. The wargs beside me begin to growl in anticipation, their lust for blood greater than mine but I serve a higher purpose. A purpose of pride… and love. Yes, I love Kairu and I know he loves me back. He told me so himself.

'I might be heartless but I always protect what is precious to me. That includes you, Mizu. You are the most precious thing to me at this moment, and nothing will stop us from achieving our destiny.'

Those words will forever echo in my mind. I will use it as motivation to help my cause to burn this city to the ground. Nothing will stop me, nothing!

"Forward into battle!" I shout and the heartless run and fly into the city, leaving a trail of blackness behind them. Covering the sky as we run to the gates. As soon as the first warg reaches the gate it disappears into thin air.

I then hear a cry from on top of the wall, "Tangado a chahad!" I look up and see the man who had rescued Aqua. He is in the middle of a line of archers and when he gave the call they all pulled back on their bowstrings, "You! Why are you doing this after we saved you and your kids?" He asks still holding his hand up.

"The only children you should worry about is your own! I promise you on this day that Rivendell will fall!"

"You can't even get your wargs into the city! How do you plan on getting in?" He asks and the archer next to him starts to let go and he shouts, "Dartho!" The archer pulls back again. He has a point the wargs can't get in no matter what they did.

'Know your allies in this battle. Remember you're not just a warrior of the horde but a warrior of darkness. A keyblade master, use it to your advantage.'

Kings words ring in my head as I open my palm and a flame of darkness appears. I smile and hold my palm in the air as the flames shoot in the sky. The clouds get darker until their darker than the moon.

Then suddenly, lightning cracks and rain starts to fall but the weird thing is… the liquid is black. The black rain continues and from the ground black spots begin to emerge and from it… emerges a neoshadow. I smirk as more neoshadows begin to emerge from the holes and even I see what appears to be bat-like heartless but with a longer tail emerging too.

King was right. Being what I am certainly has it advantages. The neoshadows and bat-like heartless keep emerging until they completely cover the fields. Its then that I feel something shake the ground. I look and see that two darksides have appeared and are making their way towards the gate. I move to the side as the get closer and I notice the faces on the elves beginning to change from their cocky smirks.

"Leithio i philinn!" The man shouts and the archers release their arrows. Like all man made things, they have no effect. Although some of the non-heartless wargs have fallen we can suffer a few casualties, "ú-dano i faelas a hyn an uben tanatha le faelas!" Some of the warriors on the wall put their bows away and draw their swords. The come down from the wall and wait on the inside of the gate. Little do these fools know the danger that awaits outside these walls.

The Darksides stand near the gate and… do nothing. Exactly nothing but standing there as if they're waiting for a command or something.

'Beings likes us all fear the same thing, the ultimate fear in our lives. Isolation. The fear of being alone and lost… that's why there's a king. To guide the lost…'

So thats what King meant. I walk behind the two giants and they turn their heads to me as I say, "Tear down this wall," They turn back to the gate and raise both their fists in the air. I watch in awe as they bring down their fists, crushing the gate in their palms. The wargs howl in victory but they still can't go in along with the heartless. I stay behind allowing the beings to have their fun for now. I casually walk in, seeing the bodies of the fallen before me is a beautiful sight. I notice the man who saved Aqua, alive and lying in the mud with a deep gash on his forehead. I walk up to him and brush his hair away so I can see his face.

"So, what was that about not getting into the city?" I say and he groans.

"You… even if you win here you won't defeat us all!"

"Who said I wanted to win. I just came here to satisfy my King's wishes. I could care less if your precious home gets burned to ashes. Thats just a bonus if you ask me," I say and he stares deeply into my eyes.

"You… Y-You're a monster."

"I'm flattered. No one's ever called me a monster before. Be very grateful I decided to spare your life, because I'll kill you the next time we meet. Now, I'm off to see your precious Elf King, salutations!" I say walking away from the man and into the ensuing chaos.

As soon as I turn my back to him I can hear him stand up behind me, "You just turned your back to him," He says then I feel a sword start to go into my back so I quickly move forward away from the blade, turn around and see that his forehead is no longer cut open. He actually looks completely healed.

"How?"

"Ask your master, if you survive," he says as he charges at me. I dodge his first attack and summon my keyblade to block the other, "So you've changed your weapon," He says.

"Yes I have. Which is what I can say less about your hairstyle," I say then kick him in the gut.

He quickly recovers then his sword starts to glow as he says, in that stupid language of his, "Nessa, Dancer of Valar, Lend me the speed I need to protect this land you have given us," He then becomes twice as fast a Ventus in Akio's car, so fast I truly can't keep him in my sight. Wait, who the hell is Ventus and Akio?

That question gets answered as I get knocked down by a huge gust of wind. I turn and catch only a glimpse of him before he dashes behind me and slashes me in the back. I jump up and fire a hail of dark energy at him. His new speed helps him to dodge most but then something happens to him and he stops. The wound on his forehead reappears and I see bits of mogul steel in the wound. He then gets hit by one of the dark blast sending him to the ground.

I walk over to him and cut off his arms so that even if he stands he won't be able to attack. As soon as I do the wargs rush in and join the fight. The man tries to stand but I kick him down and put my blade near his neck.

"Ada!" I hear a man shout and I look up to see two elves, one of them is charging at me while the other shoots an arrow at me, but I block it easily.

"Step away from our father!" the archer shouts. The one that charges swings at me, but I dodge most of his attacks, hit him with the hilt of my blade, and kick him back to the archer.

"Oh so this is your father? Then this makes your death even more sweet elf king. So take your glimpse at your children before…" The archer has fired another arrow straight at my face and I grab it just in time, "So rude. You should learn some manners."

I throw the arrow back at him and he easily rolls away. I then fire a black thunderbolt behind him, causing him and his brother to fly towards me and I slice at his abdomen as he hits the ground beside me. The archer tries to fire another arrow but a neoshadow leaps on him. He tries to shake it off but the neoshadow stays vigilant and bites him in the neck, causing him to fall on his stomach. His body disappears soon after the Heartless takes his heart. His brother destroys the heartless afterwards using his sword.

"Now, where was I? Man its on the tip of my tongue, hmm. Oh, thats right! The topic of your death," I say as I raise my blade to slice the man's head off. My blood pumping in anticipation to slice of his damn head… when a voice strangely stops me.

"Mommie?" A very young, scared, and confused voice says, "Lat are you doing to Mr. Ewrond?"

'Who is this little girl? Why isn't she running away? Why…' I look up at her and then the feeling of remorse empowers my mind and I black out from the battle. The only image I have is that little girl's frightened face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts or Lord of the Rings.**

**Co-Authored by (XainandPrice is their Pen name on FanFiction.)**

* * *

**Aqua's PoV**

I look around and see that the town I am in is burning. I see Emily and I see me holding a sword to the throat of the man who save me earlier. I quickly get up and run because I realized that I am the one who burned down the town. I am the one who has caused her own daughter to be cowering in fear. I am the one who cut off the hands of the man who save her children. I am the one who has betrayed all of her friends and family.

As I'm about to head into the fields my body starts to burn again like that time with Kairu, only this time it seems to only be burning in my core.

'_Where am I going?! I need to go back and finish him!_' I hear a voice in my head says and I hold myself to my body.

"Don't listen to the voice. It is not you," A man in a grey robe says to me, "I will try to remove the evil force holding you," He raises his wooden staff and I start to back away under my will.

"_Stay away from me! Don't touch me!_" I say but it's not me who's saying it.

"No, get out of me!" I shout back.

"_Its mine! Its my body!_" I say and I feel the darkness starting to surround my body, "_I won't leave! I don't wanna be alone again!_"

"I'd rather be alone than killing friends and family!"

"I will draw you Sauron like poison is drawn from a wound!" The robed man says and the crystal on the end of his staff lights up, "Begone!" but then flickers out.

"_You fool! I knew you were a weakling. You have great power but you can't use it. Especially if you are trying to remove something that isn't there_," The other me says.

"I will not let you take control again!" I shout.

"_I wasn't asking!_" It shouts then the darkness around me begins to grow stronger and the burning sensation increases making me shout.

"Light of the Valar, Release this woman from the control of the dark lord," He shouts and a light shines through the dark clouds above me. The burning sensation spikes more causing me to crumble to the ground and writhe in pain.

"The pain… it hurts," I whimper out.

"Hold on child, it won't last much longer," the man says and a scream emits from me.

"_KING!_" The darkness inside of me says. I see the clouds above me beginning to darken and the light gradually fades into it. Just before the light fully fades I think I see the flames of an engine from a gummi ship behind the clouds. Then suddenly, Lightning begins to crack down on the earth around us, destroying the fertile until there was nothing but holes and flames of black. Then suddenly a huge black beam shoots down behind the man who is trying to help me, sending him off his feet.

The beam disappears but destruction still occurs arounds us as we both see a pale man standing in the place where the beam impacted. Kairu.

"_King… help me… please_," The other me says weakly and Kairu slowly walks to me. I try to crawl away but my body is reluctant to listen.

"**Don't talk, save your strength**," he says in some language I don't understand and picks me up in his arms. I feel the tears starting to flow down my face for some odd reason.

"Kairu, you are the one who has done this to her aren't you?!" The man in grey says as he gets back up.

"Don't talk like you understand her! Because you don't! **You could've killed her, you bastard**!" He shouts back, "You're toying with things you have no knowledge of."

"She said that she would rather die than continue on the path you are leading her down!" He shouts, "I will not let you corrupt her further!" He raises his staff and I start to float away from the two of them. He then surrounds them both with a wall of light.

"_King!_" The dark me shouts and my body tries to get up.

"You're not taking control!" I shout to my and force my body down.

"_I need to be there with King!_"

"Why would you care about him? What has he done for you?!"

"_He's done more for me than you could even understand! I'm the most precious thing to him. He cares about me_," The other me says and I can't believe what she or I said. A heartless, cruel being like Kairu can never love somebody. Especially if that someone is my dark half.

"He is using us! He will probably kill us after he is done with us if we continue to follow him. Just like Xehanort did with Terra!"

"_You lie! King wouldn't do that to me at all!_"

"Really? What in the world makes you think that?"

"_He loves me. He told me that he loves me. I don't expect you to understand at all how King feel, you've always considered him to be a menace._"

"He terrorized our kids!"

"_Then they deserved it!_"

"No one deserves what he has done, to me, to my husband, to my kids, or caused us to do to that town!"

"_I wanted to burn that town. It was a task given to me in which I enjoyed to the fullest._"

"You only enjoyed that because of what he has done to me!" I look up just in time to notice the wall disappear and the man in grey isn't there. Unfortunately Kairu is…

"_King!_" Dark me shouts out as Kairu walks to me. I try to get up to and move away but as soon as I get up the other me tries to go towards him leaving us stuck in place.

"Aqua, I see you're back," he growls out my name.

"Stay away from me!" I shout at him and try to summon Rainfell but instead that sword from before appears in my hand. I try to get ready to strike but my dark half forces me to drop the blade.

"_King… its her. I'm losing control… I need you… help me?_" the dark me pleads.

"Don't worry my **love.** This won't take long," he says then places his hand on my face. I try to move away but as before my dark half is preventing me and causes me to blush at his touch.

"Don't touch me!" I shout since that is all I am able to do. He ignores my pleas and puts his mouth on mine. My mouth accepts it and he's able to mix his tongue with mine. I try to bite it but my dark half is holding me back. It's then that I start to feel a tug inside of me. It continues until it feels like a vacuum and I start to see black spots in my eyes. I try to fight it but I feel the darkness starting to overwhelming me. I won't give in! I am…

* * *

**Mizu's PoV**

…back in control. Finally that lying, [censored]ing, [censored] is out of the way and i am in control of the body now. King pulls away and holds his hand out for me but i don't take it.

"**What's wrong?**" he says.

"**The other me… Aqua… said some things about you. She said that you don't love me and that you would kill me as soon as we won this war**," I tell him, "**Please say it isn't true.**"

He kneels down to me, "**Mizu, look at me. I'm not the type of person to throw the people who've helped me aside. I have some pride within myself at least. Especially if that person is you, I would rather die a fool then die honorably.**"

"**And you do love me right?**" I ask noticing that he didn't mention it either way, "**King?**"

"**Does this answer your question?**" He takes my head in hands and sears his lips onto mine and only mine. I respond with the same intensity but I grab his face, rubbing his cool skin against my hands. Oh how I want him so bad right now. To make love to me right here, under the black sky with the screams of our enemies behind us. It gets me hot and bothered just thinking about it, but… there's still questions that need to be answered.

After we break apart I can feel myself blushing and then I say, "**When I first found the elf king he was highly injured but a few seconds later he stood back up and his injuries were gone. I asked him how he did that and he told me to ask you. So how did that happen?**"

"**Its his ring. It grants him capabilities similar to our bestowed by the keyblade. Except without the ring he would be killable like the rest**," He explains.

"**Speaking of rings you never explained the phrase that wizard had said. Can you tell me now?**" I ask him.

"'**One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them. Its a reference to the One Ring,' The One Ring is without a doubt the most powerful item in this world. Sauron nearly succeeded in controlling the entire world with it in his grasp. Its that powerful.**"

"**That is amazing… I wonder where it is.**"

"**Which is why we have the little hobbit coming to us. Apparently he knows of the last person to have the ring and I intend to rip it from his skull.**"

"**So why do we need to give it to this 'dark lord' when we get it?**"

"**Now whoever said that? I do intend on getting that ring but once I have it… I'm gonna destroy it.**"

"**What… why? I was thinking we could use it for ourselves.**"

"**This world is better off without the rings. I've already seen many who have the potential to become great warriors and others who have reached that level… all it takes now is someone to start the fire.**"

"**And Sauron?**"

"**Another foundation that needs to be broken my dear. Now come, Its time for us to depart from this burning city**," He stands up and holds out his hand again but I still don't accept it.

"**But… I didn't kill the elf king. I didn't retrieve his head for you so our victory isn't finished yet**," I say and he starts to smile.

"**You burned one of this world's only supposed safe havens, wounded a bearer of the rings and overcame your inner self. I believe this is a great victory… for us. Now come on, sit any longer and you might get bitten by something.**"

I chuckle to myself before taking his hand and standing up beside him. He opens up a corridor and we both walk through. The screams of the fallen are like a sweet love song as we leave the burning city behind us. Me and my King. Together forever.

* * *

**Akio's PoV**

**Arda**

**Osgiliath**

I groan as I crawl from the wreckage of the ship. After I get away from the wreck I look around and see that I am near a ruined city. I chuckle then say to myself, "How fitting that we should crash-land next to a ruined city. Yeah, we… Oh crap! Sazh!" I shout and I limp back to the ship and pull him out. He is unconscious and heavily wounded.

Sazh wakes, grunts, and manages to speak, "A-Akio… where… where are we?"

"The ruins of a city. Your heavily wounded. If I had the proper supplies I could get you to a condition where I was sure you would live but I didn't bring them. I was planning on this being an in and out trip," I say to him before he loses consciousness again.

I push the ship into the river and it quickly sinks to the bottom. I hear a loud clang as it goes down the waterfall. I grab Sazh when I hear something explode and we both get knocked down.

I see Sazh's body starting to slide and I try to get up when something coils around my body keeping my arms and body restrained. I hear boots walking behind me but I can't see without the coils tightening around my ribs.

"You see… I told you we would meet soon," I hear a voice say. It sounds a lot like…

"Kairu!"

"Guilty as charged," he snickers then kneels in front of me so I can see his face, "That looks pretty uncomfortable. Here let me help you." He reaches for me but I writhe away and the coils tighten in response. I curse and allow him to sit me upright on my knees. Now I can see him and… Aqua, but as in the video she isn't the same Aqua that I know.

"What do you want with us?!" I ask with a growl.

"Let me guess. To see you suffer and crumble underneath my foot. While also watching your reaction as you see your loved ones die in front of you. Thats basically it," Kairu says and I growl again.

"You won't get away with it!" I shout at him.

"Oh but I think I will. I'm always a step ahead of you. No matter what you do… I always be ahead," he says and I start to shake out of my prison but it tightens again.

"You might not wanna move anymore. Any movement will because the coils to tighten until it crushes you in two," Aqua says and I focus at her now.

"Aqua! Stop this! You aren't you, you're being controlled by a madman!" I say when I feel the sting of a hand come across my face.

"Don't you dare insult him again! I am not being controlled. What you are seeing is the true me. The darkness that was hidden and locked away in that pathetic excuse for a warrior. I am reborn and Kairu… is my king," she says and I look at Kairu now.

"Is this how far you have corrupted her? To the point where she calls you her master?!" I shout.

"What are you talking about? I saved her soul from dying. She just so happened to pick the side that provided her the most safety. I never forced her to do it, everything she's done is by her own free will. A will in which I surely enjoy," he says and pulls Aqua's face to him. They kiss and I immediately start to shake in the coils as it tightens to the point where it would break my bones if it were any tighter. I feel my heart weaken and I black out.

* * *

**Braig-Xehanort-Akio's PoV**

"You are a fool," I say as I break the bonds and summon my guns, "Time to say goodbye, poppet" I teleport to one of the roofs, hang upside down, and start to fire. The white-haired poppet seems to dodge or dance away from my blasts and the Black-haired poppet blocks most of it with her keyblade. I teleport again but I only see the Black-haired poppet. Its then that I feel someone grab my jaw.

"Hey, poppet. Where ya been," I look to see that's it the poppet that was missing and he pulls me into my teleportation circle. I float in the empty void and I don't see the White-Haired poppet, "Where are ya?" I shout.

"Behind you," He says then I feel my head getting kicked forward. I fire again but he leaps over all the shots. He flies towards me and I aim directly at him. I shoot and he disappears in a wisp of smoke. I look all over for him until I feel some tug on my collar and I'm swung into another portal and I and back in the real realm.

"So annoying, Poppet," I say then combine my guns into the sniper form and aim at the black-haired poppet. I fire expecting the shard to pierce her black head but instead it hits something else that wears black. The white-haired poppet stood in front of the other, the shard in the middle of his chest.

"Nice shot… poppet," he says and falls backwards. I guess the black-haired one wasn't a poppet of him at all.

"King!" She screams and moves to him. she tries to pull the shard out but its too deep in, "King! King! Stay with me… king, please stay with me!" I feel this body's true heart start to hurt and I start to black out.

"Damn. I guess I won't get to take that last shot like I planned," I say before the host retakes control.

* * *

**Akio's PoV**

What did I do? I thought that Kairu was truly only using Aqua… but he took the shot. Why would a being of pure darkness do that? I don't understand how this is happening.

"King… king… please don't leave me," Aqua sobs over Kairu, "I don't wanna be alone… please, King. Wake up… wake up… why won't you wake up? Please… wake up."

I walk over and I hear her growl, "I'm not here to fight. I only wanna help."

"You've done enough. As you can see your kind are very capable of taking the lives of others without remorse," Aqua snarls.

"I… I wasn't myself. Please, I owe this to you," I say and she looks at me. Her yellow eyes look into mine and I add, "I also misjudged you two."

She looks at me then back at Kairu. I hear her sigh and she steps back. I use Braig's power to remove the shard, and then walk off.

"Wait," Aqua says and I stop. She makes her way to Sazh and I brace myself for the worst. Instead she summons the keyblade I saw before and places the tip on Sazh's head. His body gets surrounded by a green aura for a brief moment and he takes a breath. It disappears and Aqua goes back to Kairu.

I rush over to Sazh, glad I didn't lose a third friend today and help him up. We both look over towards Aqua and Kairu and see Kairu still laying on the ground, "What happened? Who is that and why does the man look injured?"

"That man is Kairu… but he isn't as bad as the darkness he was born in. I guess Daemon's favor won't be happening," I say then try to see if I can find anything to help him recover and I smell something that smells like an elixir does, though the smell is stronger and I follow the smell and find a plant that looks like a ball of grass with white petals. I pick it and hope that it will be able to heal him. I go over to him but Aqua has her keyblade out and puts it in between me and Kairu, "I don't think he will make it without help," I tell her.

She stares at me before she lowers her keyblade, "If this doesn't work, I swear on Kairu's life that I'll burn this world… with you in it."

"I don't know if it will work, but I need a way to crush it even if it is just a mortar and pestle," I say to her, "Do you know where I could find one Aqua?"

Her gaze still remains on Kairu's body when she says, "I'm sure you can find some down in Rivendell… but by then it'll be too late. Maybe one of the buildings here in Osgiliath has something you could use… and the name's Mizu now."

"Thank you, Aqu- I mean Mizu," I say and I enter the closest building and find a wood bowl. I grab a piece of rubble off the floor and put the herb into the bowl. I carry the bowl back while I evenly crush the plant. I kneel next to Kairu and spread the grounded plant over the bulletwound. Almost immediately the plant starts to glow and the wound starts to heal, "It looks like it worked."

Just as I say that blood spurts from the wound and leaks over his jacket. Aq-Mizu puts her hands over the spot and her hands start to radiate darkness too. The energy grows larger until it looks like a campfire then it sinks into his body, "King?"

"Why am I not dead?" Kairu speaks then Mizu hugs his body.

"**King! I … I… I thought you were gonna leave me alone in this world.**"

"**Why would I ever do that? Why would I hurt what is precious to me that much?**" Kairu says in some language and I see tears running down Mizu's face.

I motion to Sazh for us to leave and we walk off, careful to avoid Kairu's attention.

"Hold on you two," He says without looking at us and the both of us stop moving, "Care to explain?"

"Explain what exactly? My complete change of character or why I healed you?" I ask turning around to face him.

"The first. I would like to repaid that man for giving me that excuse he calls 'death'.

"His name is Braig and I have a thirteenth of his heart in me. Just like the rest of the thirteen Xehanorts. Also he was aiming for Mizu, not you. He didn't expect a being of darkness to sacrifice himself like you did."

"The thirteen you say?" Kairu says then sits up with Mizu, "Looks like you've been cursed, that's unfortunate for you… for your life to be chosen. I only wish that you give your enemies the best you can deliver." He opens a corridor of darkness and walks through with Mizu, still in his arms.

"You do realize he is probably our only way home, right?" Sazh says to me and I scowl slightly at him.

"Yes I do, I expected him to be curious enough to hear the reason why I healed him," I reply.

"You know what they say about assuming," He says and my slight scowl becomes a full scowl.

"Don't even start to say it," I say through gritted teeth.

"I won't."

* * *

**Arwen's PoV**

**Rivendell**

The monsters left soon after the woman ran off. I reached Emily just as soon as the woman looked up at her. The woman ran off, getting off of my father and I run up to him after I notice that his hands have been cut off. I try to heal him but instead of him getting new hands, it, as i expected, caused his wrists to become stubbles.

"Father, are you able to get up?" I ask concerned

"Yes my daughter, I can stand, but… Elrohir has fallen," He tells me as I help him up.

I look over at my other brother and say to both him and my father, "It can't be true. How could he fall?!"

"We were busy fighting that woman, who is emily's mom, attacking our father and we didn't notice one of the creatures coming up from behind us," Elladan tells me.

"Then we need to bury him after the fires are put out. Where is his body?" I say

My father looks at me with tears in his eyes, "His body disappeared as soon as he hit the ground," He turns to my brother and says, "Get ready to travel to lothlorien, I am going to call the council when we get there. We need to decide who will be leading Imladris since I am now unable to. Arwen I want you to come as well but you and Emily should stay at Lothlorien."

I shake my head, "I am not going to just leave you alone now that you are… injured," I am careful not to be insulting, "I will help you."

My brother stands up and says, "And I cannot go. If the Horde has gained this much power I need to warn the Dunedain."

My father nods, "I understand." I pick up Emily and start getting us ready.

* * *

**Lightning's PoV**

**Etra**

**Lightning and Slip's house**

They say that sex is a great stress reliever. Once upon a time in my life I used to scoff at this believing that sex was merely a greedy urge to satisfy one's own self purpose. When I look back at that now, I see how hypocritical that was and how dull I was in my ownself. My skin is still tingling afterwards and I feel so… refreshed. Oh how blessed I am to have a man who can please a woman so. I'm probably the only few who can experience this, then again… no other woman has went through what I've been through. Except Vanille, Fang, Uriel, and… Serah.

I sit out on the patio, wearing my favorite white sarong with red floral designs and a white tank top. I let the wind touch my skin, enticing a satisfying sigh out of me. Jade managed to convince Liam to go outside but he's reluctant to go near the water where my daughter is playing in. I can hear their little shouts from here.

"Come on Liam! You agreed to come out didn't you?" Jade says.

"But I don't want to swim. I'm scared," He says.

"You can't always be scared. You have to be brave sometimes, thats what papa says," Jade says but Liam still hasn't moved. I see Jade starting to walk towards him and she starts to push him to the water. I hear his pleads but they go on unanswered ears.

"Please! Stop!" He shouts as he is pushed onto the edge, "Please!"

"Trust me! You'll be fine," she says before getting his feet in the water. They both keep going until it goes up to their knees, "See its not all that bad."

"N-no its not," He says and I chuckle. The child of Aqua, afraid of water… the irony is too great. I bet Logan would laugh too.

"Whatcha' laughing about?" My husband voice rings from behind me. He comes in front of me, wearing nothing but some jeans. I've gotten used to him being sneaky so I don't get scared so easily. Sometimes.

"Liam. Turns out he's afraid of water," I say and Tristan laughs before joining me on the sun chair. I move a little so now my head lays over his heart.

"Oh man, thats ironic. Wonder what would Logan would say if he heard us?" Tristan replies.

"N-noffing's happening?" I hear Liam say, "Noffing's happening!"

"What is he screaming about?" Tristan says and I shrug, "Jeez, I didn't plan on having two kids in the house."

"I did," I say and he scoffs, "Just not under these circumstances."

I feel his chest tighten and he circles his arms around my waist, "Yeah. Its just one of those rare curves life throws at you."

"Life was much easier when I was kid."

"Then where would all the excitement go?" He says and I laugh.

"To my teenage years before I joined the Guardians. Man I wish I could have those days back," I say.

"What do you miss?" He asks and I sigh.

"The peace. Even though it was just me and Serah, I enjoyed the times we had together. I only wish that my mother could see me now. Living, Wonderful friends, A loving husband and a beautiful daughter… a perfect life."

"You wanna know what I miss… after a nice session with my wife, I go out here and sit here naked. Letting the cold breeze hit my sweaty skin from time to time," he jokes and I slap his chest. Its a good thing he doesn't see my blush but he probably knows I am.

"Way to kill the mood," I say and he chuckles.

"Without me, you'll take things too seriously and everybody will shut you out," he responds.

"Not everybody. I'll have Hope and Snow."

"Please, the boy looks like he has no joy in his life and don't even get me started on Snow."

"You hate Snow in general. So that doesn't count," I say when I hear a shriek. I look to see that Liam fell in the water and Jade is helping him up. Its then that I see Liam send a splash of water at her and they begin to have a water fight.

"So what are we gonna do about Liam?" Tristan asks.

"Aqua's gone and Logan's dead. So it falls to our shoulders now I guess," I reply.

"Does that mean I have to build another room?" he groans and I sit up and look at him.

"Well it all depends on what you want in return," I say and he raises his eyebrow.

"Well let me think. I want 100 gil in return and oh I don't know… a nice dinner with my lovely wife," he says as he pulls me closer. I smile as our lips start to lightly touch each other.

"You're paying," I say as I close the distance. Our lips a perfect match as it starts to intensify. I pull away, knowing that the kids are still right there and could see us. I don't hear them shouting about it being gross so they must not have seen the kiss.

"I can't wait," he says the tries to pull me back in but I avert it and he starts to kiss my neck.

"Tris," I say trying to fight back a moan, "the kids are right down there."

"Well… we could go back inside. If you're so concerned," he says and I blush again. How does he do it after all this time I have no idea."

"No… I just… don't want them to… get the wrong idea," I say and push his body back down from mine, "That and you'll have to explain to them what they just saw."

"And what will they see?" he says with a smirk and the blush returns.

"I… Isn't it obvious? You and… me, well you know," I say and he sits up again.

"I don't know. Care to explain more?" He says this time right next to my ear and starts to nibble on it. I grab his shoulders and my legs tighten in response as he starts to suck on it.

"Tris," I moan out when I hear more of the kid's shrieks of joy. My blush grows more as he continues and his other hand goes for my breast. Luckily I manage to stop him from going that far because any more and I might not be able to stop myself, "Tris… we can't."

"You can't or you won't. At this point, I don't care… I just want you," Tris says before kissing me. I grab his face to deepen the kiss as his hand goes to my hair while the other lays at my hip.

"Tris," I moan again and this time he picks me up. He carries us both back into our room and lays me down on the bed. He goes back to the patio and closes the curtains.

"And you thought I didn't care," Tris says walking back to me. I grab his face and kiss him hard. He's shocked for a second but responds back. His hands trace my legs before going up to my upper body. I feel him tug on the hem of my shirt and I help him take it off. I start to reach for the buttons of his jeans, his kisses now along my neck and start to go downwards to my chest. I shiver in anticipation, hoping for him to give me my eternal bliss once again when… it rings.

Our bodies seem to freeze in its motion. His phone continues, its not before long when Tristan groans in annoyance and disconnects his lips from my body.

"Nice ringtone," I say and he bucks into me causing me to yelp.

"Nice reaction," he says before answering his phone, "Hello?" He growls again, "Daemon, you better have a good excuse for calling me right now."

I laugh to myself. Of course it would be Daemon who would call at this moment. I start to put my shirt back on and when I look back at Tris, his face has gone white.

"What is it?"

He doesn't say anything to me and puts his phone down. He rushes to me and brings me into a hug.

"Tris… what's wrong?" I ask him.

He sighs before telling me, "Its Hope… he's gone, Claire."

That was the second time that I cried during that day.

* * *

**Emily's PoV**

**Arda**

**Misty Mountains**

**4 days later**

It's so cold. We are leaving the beautiful rivendell because when my mommy returned she attacked us. As soon as I got to her and asked her why, she ran away. We are on a very big hill and are heading to a place called lutherain, I think, "Howl much longer till le get larmer?" I ask Arwen.

"Shouldn't be too long Emily. After we get over Caradhras we will be there. The Caradhras mountain is that one right there," Arwen says and points to the the biggest of the hills.

"Awright…" I say sadly, "Will mama be there? And will she be nice again?"

"I don't know if she will be there but I don't think the nice her is in control," Elrond says.

"Oh…" I say. I hear a loud noise behind me and Arwen turns around causing me to turn as well. I see three shapes, one short while the other two are tall, though not as tall as Elrond.

"Oh great," I hear a deep voice say and Arwen stiffens at the sound, "Elves," The voice sounds angry and mean.

"Hadhod be nice, elves aren't bad," Another voice says. Upon hearing this voice arwen loosens up again and when I look down at her she is smiling.

"Aragorn, you can't change the mind of a dwarf. Even Hadhod's anger won't be soothed that easily," A third voice says.

"Aragorn!" Arwen shouts and the middle figure looks straight at her.

"Especially this elf," the second voice says then the middle figure runs forward till he looks at me and stops, "Arwen who is this?" He asks pointing at me.

"I'm Emiwy," I say.

"Yes, and Emily got separated from her parents so I am taking care of her till we find them," The man lets out a sigh while smiling.

"Arwen… Why aren't you in Rivendell?" The man says.

"Rivendell is gone. It has been burned down," Arwen say and the other tall figure rushes forward.

"How?! I thought the Horde of Saruman couldn't enter Rivendell!" He shouts.

"Serves you elves right," The mean voice says as the short figure walks forward.

"Hadhod!" The first man, who Arwen calls Aragorn shouts.

"What?" he asks.

"Stop talking. At least until Arwen, Emily and Elrond are through the Caradhras pass don't say another word," Aragorn says.

"Aragorn. That is a little harsh don't you think. Unless this is the Arwen that you…"

"You too Elegost!" Aragorn says before the second man can finish his sentence, causing him to laugh.

"I knew it!" He shouts and laugh harder before the dwarf speaks up.

"Wait you aren't Elrond Half-elven are you?" He asks his voice still scary but not as mean.

"Yes I am. Nice to meet you Hadhod of the Fundin clan," Elrond says, "Now as Aragorn pointed out we need to get through the pass of Caradhras," He starts walking towards the hill.

"We will help you," Aragorn says, "There are black riders here."

"Why are they here?" Elrond asks.

"Because the hobbit who used to bear the ring is here."

"Smeagol is here?!" Elrond's eyes show how surprised he is.

"Lo is Smeagow?" I ask.

"A hobbit that has…" Aragorn starts before Arwen interrupts him.

"a reason that the bad guys are after him," She says.

"A small reason," Elegost says then smiles in a weird way, "But it still is an important reason."

"Lat is the reason?" I ask.

"I'll explain later but right now we need to get through the mountain," Elrond says, "Aragorn you need to find Smeagol, we can handle getting through the pass."

"Alright. I hope the road fares you well," Aragorn says the turns to arwen, "_**Goodbye my love.**_"

"_**I will miss you, Aragorn**_," Arwen says before we start to leave.

The wind is blowing snow everywhere. I have to close my eyes in order to prevent it from hurting them.

"I think I see a cave over there!" The voice of Elrond shouts.

"Lets go in there and get out of this storm for a few minutes," Arwen shouts back.

"Alright," Elrond replies and after a few minutes the snow seems to stop.

I open my eyes and see that we are in a cave. Arwen puts me down but I am still cold. Even colder than before. I just need to warm up a little. Just a little warmth.

* * *

**Arwen PoV**

I put Emily down on the ground and am about to sit down myself when her right leg starts to glow. I pull up her pants leg to look at what is happening and see a mark on her leg that is glowing. I go to touch it when suddenly a flame shoots out from it. It bounces off the ground and hits a tree, making it singe on contact.

I put my body over Emily as it continues before it suddenly stops. I look to see that the light is gone and in its place is a little fire from a bark of wood that fell down. I walk over to the fire and it feels just as warm as a fire made normally.

"_**Father! Come over here. Emily's leg lit up and then sent a fire to this tree**_," I say to my father

"_**What are you talking about?**_" He replies, "_**This child is no wizard and unless there's a ring I don't know about then there's no way possible she emitted the flame.**_"

"_**I saw it with my own eyes. The flame came from that mark on her leg**,_" I tell him.

"_**What mark?**_"

"_**Look at her right ankle**_," I say and he comes over to look at the mark.

"**_That's an odd birthmark. You_ say her powers come from here?**" He asks.

"_**Yes, the flame came from that mark**_," I tell him.

"_**Interesting. Very interesting indeed**_," He says and moves one of his fingers towards the spot when it starts to glow again. We both step back wary of what might happen. She becomes surrounded in a flaming red aura. I see her yawn a little and her eyes close.

"**_It seems that she is tired. I wonder if it is because of her magic or just the cold_**," I say to my father.

"_**Or both. Either way, this child has magic even at a young age. I've never seen that happen before**_," He says, bringing a blanket over her small body. The aura spreads around the blanket instead of causing it to catch on fire like I expected it would do.

"_**I hope that she can control it**_," I say as I sit down next to the fire.

"_**With the proper training yes. Her element could become a great weapon for the fight against Sauron**_," He says still standing.

"_**I just hope she doesn't turn on us like her mother did. Though I don't feel much evil in her at all**_," I say.

"_**Yes… that would be a travesty.**_"

"_**Father, is something wrong?**_"

"_**Yes… I still don't understand why the child's mother did what she did. I saved her child and… in the end she injured me and killed Elrohir for letting her in my grace.**_"

"_**Did you notice what happened after she saw Emily? It was as if she had become someone else.**_"

"_**The only thing I saw was the eyes of an insane one, preparing to strike me down in front of my own children. I showed her remorse and she showed no mercy. The next time we meet… I will show her the same she showed me.**_"

"_**She seemed to not be in control of herself. I think one of the wizards has betrayed us and taken control of her. When she saw Emily it seemed to break whatever hold over her the wizard had.**_"

"_**If that is so then we are in more danger than we thought…**_"

* * *

**Liam's PoV**

**Etra**

**8 years later, Liam's Thirteenth Birthday.**

Its been eight years since I've arrived in Etra. My mom, father and my sister are nowhere to be found. Everyone tried their hardest but there's been no evidence. Lucky for me, Claire and Tristan were kind to take me in. I didn't ask for it yet I didn't deny them it either. They taught me a lot of things, some I had to experience on my own but was all the same.

Even Jade had taught me some things, most of it had to with how to treat a lady… and how to dress properly, I don't know why but I now know better than to argue with her. Its a good thing Tris was kind enough to make me my own room, because if I had to hear another word about some guy who's supposedly hot… I was gonna lose my mind.

Tristan was hard on me the most. Well I guess I can't blame him since he's… well him. He trained me physically and mentally. I've probably had the toughest winter break than any other kid has had, him and Daemon. In fact I say that Tristan's was the worst out of both of them. Then again, I've just learned of his past from Roque-his apprentice apparently-so now I partially understand why yet its still kind of of debatable.

It's a good thing Claire was around or my life would've been a living hell. Although I can't say that she had her outburst sometimes but at least hers were… calmer. She would be there to soften Tristan up and make him cool off for a while. Then came spring, oh man, that was the worse. She wore… me… out! I hate that yet I expected nothing less from the savior. Oh… I forgot that she doesn't like being called that anymore.

Anyway, enough about everyone else, today is about me. I turn thirteen today so I'm supposed to be at my happiest yet… it feels hollow with my actual parents with me. Eight… Eight years since they last saw me. I wonder where they are… or if they even remember me? The little boy who was afraid of water, now growing before their eyes.

The sound of my door opening breaks my thoughts. I turn and see that's its no one else but Claire Fa-Dramuid. Tristan's last name sure is a weird one.

"What are you doing in here birthday boy? Shouldn't you be outside?" Claire says and leans on the door. I can't say she's aged much but her hair is cut shorter and is darker than before.

"I miss them," I say, "I wish they could be here to see this."

I hear her footsteps behind me then I feel her arms encase around me, "I know. We all do… but if they were here right now they would want you to be happy. Not mope around in your room and think of what could've been. Celebrate, they would want you to."

I let her words sink in. Would they really want me to celebrate in their absence? Shouldn't I be helping to look for them? Why would I care about a birthday if my parents aren't here with me?

"I understand if you don't want to," Claire says, "but I've spent nearly 1,500 gil just for you. So you either get your ass up and go out there or I'll drag your bruised body out there anyway." She walks out leaving me in the silence of my room. Do I really want to wait here and test her patience?

Not really, so I get up and put on my black jacket before walking out. The thoughts of my parents still with me when I go outside. Almost everybody who's known me is here.

Jade, Tristan, Dajh, Vanille, Daemon, Jewel and Kaye, their daughters. Uriel, Rohan, her son. Kyng, Ava ,Wes, Roque, Lio, and Naziel. The last two I notice are Aunt Jihl and my cousin, though she is fifteen years older than me, Valarie. I smile as they cheer for my birthday.

"Happy Birthday!"

I smile as they all start to gather around me and Kyng gets me in a headlock and rubs my hair.

"Happy Birthright ya little suck-up!" He says and I scoff.

"What's a birthright?" Kaye ask her father, Daemon.

"It's the same as a birthday, it's just Uncle K's way of being happy," Daemon explains.

"That and the primogenturia it's a much better celebration than what the landers have. There's bonfires, fireworks, dancing, some classic Toqan and at the end there's a huge feast to honor the chosen," Kyng says, using his hand as gestures.

"Really?! Can I have a brithright dad?" Jewel asks.

"No," he bluntly says and Jewel shows her displeasure.

"But it sounds fun!" She says.

"Will discuss it on your next birthday," he says and Jewel groans in displeasure.

"Why not? It sounds interesting," Vanille speaks this time.

"He's just mad that he had been bitten by one of the Fiermo," Kyng says.

"Hey! That mutt was eyeing me the entire time I was there. It was a matter of time that it was going to do what it did," Daemon says and I laugh.

"Come on. Just let her have it. Think of it as my present," I say and Daemon groans this time.

"Fine… but no Fiermo or the deals off!" he says and Jewel jumps in victory.

"Alright people enough sideshows," Tristan says, "We all know what we came here for."

"Cake?" Wes says.

"Money?" Ava says.

"The comfortable feeling knowing that we got paid just to show up?" Roque says and Tristan slaps him across the head.

"No, no and definitely no. We're all here to celebrate a day we all have encountered before. Although we're not bound by blood, I always cared for him like he was my own. Liam, I know you hate things like these. Which is why I'm doing this in front of everybody, but seriously. Even though Claire and I aren't your real parents… we still love you the same as Aqua and Logan would. To Liam!" Tristan finishes his speech and everybody else cheers for me.

"Thanks guys," I say with a single tear about to fall, "I appreciate this. All of it. I don't know where I would be right now. Just… thank you." More tears start to emerge but I don't stop them. I feel someone hug me and I see that its Jade. She stands over me like she has been and her hair is short but still has its blue chrome color.

"Come on you're thirteen. You shouldn't be crying over the silly stuff," she says.

"Shut up," I say and she lets go, "But seriously thank…"

"No more thank yous. Its time to get this little party started. Now… where's that cake?" She says and Wes shouts in agreement. I smile and join them as Claire brings the cake and we dive in the festivities.

The party lasted longer than I thought it would. Then again, I'm not a fan of social gatherings as much as Jade. Don't get me wrong, I still loved the party, but… I still need so time alone to think. Instead of going back in the house, I stay outside and sit next to the sea. To think that some time ago I used to be afraid of water. Heh, now I see the irony.

"I'm surprised you're not inside," I hear a voice behind me. I turn back and see that its Tristan. He sure does have a habit of popping up out of nowhere.

"I was just thinking," I say to him, "Do you know why I used to be afraid of water?"

"Not really. I thought it was just a phase you were going through. That and it was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. The son of Aqua, scared of a little puddle. How can you not laugh at that?" He says and I laugh a little.

"Yeah… But there was a reason," I start, "Watch," I stand up and I feel the mark on my left ankle activate as I turn a small area of the water into Ice.

Tristan whistles, "Impressive. So that explains why you were afraid."

"Yes sir, I was afraid I would freeze myself solid or create a tsunami," I say, "I have another question for you. Why does everyone keep referring to my parents in the past tense?"

He pauses for a second. He sighs before saying, "I wanted to tell you this when you were fifteen, but now it seems fate has something else in store. Liam... Logan and Aqua are dead. They've been dead for sometime... Claire and I didn't tell you before because a child doesn't need the hand of death around his neck. We wanted to raise you with the same care and love that you would get from them. It was the one thing we could do."

"Their dead?! They can't be!" I shout and I see Tristan's eyes grow wide for a moment, "They can't be dead!"

"Calm down," He says.

"Why should I?! You Think you can lie and tell me that my parents are dead without me getting upset?!" I shout

"I didn't lie! I chose to tell you at the right time when you were ready for it. I made the decision to let you grow and mature as a man before you knew the fate of your parents. I didn't want anything to hinder that," he explains.

"They are still alive. I know that my mom is alive! I can feel it!"

"And what will you do then? Go find her? WIth what materials? You don't even have a sword," Tristan says and my energy dies down. He has a valid point.

"But why did you tell me she was dead?" I ask him a little calmer and I see him sigh in relief

"Her body is still active but her spirit is gone. Daemon told me what Akio had shown him before he took off," he says.

"What happened to her? What did uncle Akio show him?" I ask sitting back down on the sand.

"Your mother's darkness has taken over and now she's become a new being. Mizu, she calls herself. Your father... he sacrificed himself to insure your safety. Hope found you in his lap from a portal, probably by your mother, and you can fill in the rest," he explains.

"I remember waking up at hope's, what happened to my sister, Emily?" I ask.

"That I don't know, but I have a hunch Mizu knows," he replies.

"Thank you for waiting to tell me. I don't think I could've handled this when I was younger," I say to him.

"Thats why I'm the grown-up. That and I have knowledge on how to handle a child's temper," he says and I chuckle.

"I'm just glad you never slipped up," I say with a smirk, but Tristan doesn't share the enthusiasm.

"Never say that again. Ever," he says.

"Sorry sir," I say.

"Good. Because I hate funny guys, they tend to get cocky. Wanna know what happens to them?" He says and I gulp.

"N-no need," I say.

"Good. Now get up, it's gonna get chilly in a little bit so we might as well go inside," He starts to walk back to the house. I follow him to the house after I pick up a conch shell.

"Wait, but what about my parents?" I ask him and he stops.

"You have no training and have no way to find your mother. To top it off, your young and reckless so you won't last long in a fight nor in a true battle. If I were an enemy I could probably kill you in five seconds in three different ways," he explains.

"But… but… nevermind…" I say and hang my head knowing better than to argue with him.

"However, with the proper training you could be a splendid warrior. You're a valiant prospect, I'm lucky to have you near me," he adds and my head shoots up.

"Are you saying you wanna train me?" I ask, hoping he'll say yes.

"We better get started right away then. Be awake around 4:00 a.m, we'll start then," he says and I gawk.

"Th-that early?!" I exclaim in disbelief

"Here I thought you felt a little froggy and wanted to go save your mother. Guess I was wrong and I'm wasting my time," he says. His words sink in deep as I think of how my mother is right now. Tired, confused maybe even scared, my father would probably be the first to rush in and save her, but... he's not here anymore. Now it falls to me... to save my family, my legacy, my past and future. I would be a fool to not take Tristan's offer.

"Alright... I'm in."

* * *

**Emily's PoV**

**Arda**

**Lothlorien**

**Same time, Emily's Thirteenth birthday.**

I have been here for 8 years. The last time I saw my mom was when she was attacking Lord Elrond. My brother was sent through a portal and dad… well I don't have any idea where he is. I have no idea about where any of them are come to think of it. I hope they are ok.

I jump when Arwen, Lord Elrond's daughter, who had been acting as my mom since mine was attacked, comes in "_**Emily, Galadriel would like to see you.**_"

"_**Thank you, Arwen**_," I say. I still call her Arwen even though she insists I call her mom since technically she is my foster mom, but she isn't my real mom. It was thanks to her that I learned the language of the elves, Sindarin.

"_**Emily, will you ever feel comfortable with calling me 'mom?**_'" She asks.

"_**I understand that you are technically my foster-mother but you aren't my real mom. I still miss my parents**_," I reply as I stand up.

"_**I know… Just… go see Galadriel**_," Arwen says as she steps out of the entryway.

"_**Yes ma'am**_," I say before walking towards the platform that Galadriel usually is. As I walk over to her I hear some whispers, probably talking about how since I am not an Elf I am not as perfect as they think they are and I should not be here. Hypocrites. I just Ignore them like I usually do and continue on my way.

As soon as I am on the platform she motions for me to sit down and after I sit down she says, "_**I'm glad you came. I have some things I should tell you now that you are old enough to know.**_"

"_**You mean like why my mom attacked Rivendell and where my father and brother are, right?**_" I ask her.

"_**Yes, and more. I think I will start with what happened to your father. He was fighting alongside Aqua and they were both surrounded. He sacrificed himself to save you, your brother, and your mother. He had some way to make himself explode taking the whole world with him**_," She says and I am shocked.

"_**He's dead… Dad is dead?!**_" I can feel the tears flowing from my eyes.

"_**Yes and that isn't al**_l," she says, "_**I know that this is your birthday and that while we haven't had celebrations like you would have had with your family. I am sorry to give you such bad news, on this day especially**_," I nod in understanding and she continues, "_**After your father died you woke up and I do believe you remember your mother being taken by the shadow warg**_," I nod again, "_**After that she was corrupted by one of Sauron's leaders, Kairu**_," The look in her eyes explains why she doesn't say more.

"_**You don't need to say what he did to her**_," I say.

"_**Thank you. Your brother is safe and sound thanks to your mom's last acts before she was taken. He is in the care of two of your parents' friends. The only other thing I have to tell you about your family is that your uncle is here on Middle Earth…**_"

"_**Uncle Akio! He is here?! How close is he to us?**_" I ask then hang my head when realize I interrupted, "_**My apologies lady Galadriel I should not have interrupted you.**_"

"_**I understand. You haven't seen your family in eight years so news that your uncle is here excites you but there is more to it. He is here and is looking for you. But even if he does find you he wouldn't be able to get you to your old friends and family. He no longer has a way to get to other worlds. This is he doesn't until Sauron is defeated**_," She says.

I then ask her, "_**Who is this Sauron I keep hearing about? Everyone talks about him but no one has ever explained why they fear him.**_"

She stands up and looks out at the forest while leaning on the railing before saying, "_**The worlds have changed; I can feel it in the water, I can feel it in the earth, I can smell it in the air. It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves; immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the Race of Men, who above all else desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race. But they were all of them deceived, for another ring was made. In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged, in secret, a Master Ring, to control all others. And into this Ring he poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life. One Ring to rule them all.**_

_**One by one, the Free Lands of Middle-Earth fell to the power of the Ring. But there were some who resisted. A last alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor. And on the slopes of Mount Doom, they fought for the freedom of Middle-Earth. Victory was near, but the power of the Ring could not be undone. It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father's sword. Sauron, enemy of the free peoples of Middle-Earth, was defeated.**_

_**The Ring passed to Isildur, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever, but the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the Ring of Power has a will of its own. It betrayed Isildur, to his death.**_

_**And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the Ring passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, it ensnared a new bearer. The Ring came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. And there it consumed him.**_

_**The Ring brought to Gollum unnatural long life. For 500 years, it poisoned his mind. And in the gloom of Gollum's cave, it waited. Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a shadow in the East – whispers of a nameless fear. And the Ring of Power perceived its time had now come. It abandoned Gollum. But something happened then the Ring did not intend. It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable. A Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. For the time will soon come when Hobbits will shape the fortunes of all…**_" She then walks off, leaving me with more questions than actual answers.

Then again, what did I expect from her?

* * *

**A/N: From this point on Liam's and Emily's stories will be in two separate stories.**


End file.
